Collectors become obsessive and then addicted. You become addicted to art and you can't live without it.

My wife was the first art collector in the family, and I didn't become interested until around 1973. The first important artwork we bought was a Van Gogh drawing of two peasant houses in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

People always say congratulations. When you're a successful bidder it means you're willing to spend more money than anyone else. I'm not sure if that's congratulations or condolences.

I learned to embrace risk, as long as it was well thought out and, in a worst-case scenario, I'd still land on my feet.

In high school, I would drive my teachers batty. They would make a statement, and I would say, 'Why is that?' They didn't want to be questioned.

I never stay anywhere — parties , museums, meetings — longer than 3 hours.

People don't know I've got a deep social conscience. I'm a child of the Depression, born in 1933. My parents were very liberal in their social views.