If you want to compete in Italy, the only accepted ways are brute force, or cunning. Like Machiavelli says, "Fronte otra forze." And neither of these two "virtues" is suited to an artist. The artist has to stay intelligent.

I repeatedly refuse to make any practical decisions. I get a feeling of nausea about practicality.

And dilettantism is a humorous way to survive. Everybody understands you for it and everybody hates you for it. And not everybody chooses to be a dilettante. Many choose cunning and brute force.

When I look at a drawing of a person, I look at that person as living.

Fashion is the pursuit of perfection, Style is the acceptance of one's flaws.

In India and in New York the economy is naked. People are starving physically in India, and emotionally in New York.

We are not naturally intelligent, or happy. In fact, every day it is harder to remain intelligent. It seems often that people get intelligent through pain, but you can't be sure because nobody really can say, "I've been suffering".