Keith Haring

The world is waiting to have them. At 24, that is maybe a funny feeling.

Well, do you think that I have worked like that all those years and not be changed?

I could earn more money if I just painted a few things and jacked up the price. My shop is an extension of what I was doing in the subway stations, breaking down the barriers between high and low art.

Art is for everybody. To think that they—the public—do not appreciate art because they don't understand it, and to continue to make art that they don't understand and therefore become alienated from, may mean that the artist is the one who doesn't understand or appreciate art and is thriving in this “self-proclaimed knowledge of art” that is actually bullshit.

I am becoming much more conscious of everything. I am seeing everything for the first time.

Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic.

I could earn more money if I just did a few things and sold them for lots of money. But I would rather have a lot of people owning my work than a few rich people owning my work.

The public has a right to art. The public is being ignored by most contemporary artists.

I am not a myth. I am a man.

Art should be something that liberates your soul.

I am a necessary part of the city. Like the hot dog stands and the traffic lights.

The thing I like most about my work is that it is a gift.

I am not a graffiti artist. I am an artist who uses the city as my canvas.

I don't think about art when I'm working. I try to think about life.

The most important thing is to be true to yourself.

I am not a political artist. I am an artist who is political.

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

I am not a saint. I am a sinner who keeps trying.

I am not a businessman. I am an artist.

The line is the most basic element of drawing. It is the first mark you make.