Women in America read 'lifestyle' pages which are really glorifications of shopping. They teach us we must veil ourselves in make-up to be loved. And we willingly take the veil, thinking ourselves freed by it. Make-up is no more optional for us than the veil is for Arab women: it is our Western version of the chador.

Sex has the unparalleled power to make us absurd to ourselves. It also has the power to make us understand transcendence.

Most sex doesn't really bring people together. You have to reach a certain level of connection, I think, and that's pretty rare.

It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the solitude and the terror of failure, and the godawful silence and the white paper.

Is a currency worth anything if no one wants it? We used to buy shoes in Italy. Remember?

I don't think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am. I don't think you could ever know just how truly special you are that even on the darkest nights you are my brightest star

Art is always an energy exchange.