Jenny Holzer Quotes

I'd been doing projects outdoors for the public. I made pigeons eat geometry by putting bread out in rhomboids and triangles. I don't know if this activity made sense, but the work was available.

Any surplus is immoral.

It is embarrassing to be caught and killed for stupid reasons

A lot of professionals are crackpots.

Deviants are sacrificed to increase group solidarity

There's a fine line between information and propaganda.

It's necessary to start most work alone. But I'm tickled to death when I can pull somebody in or join someone, whether it's borrowing poetry or traveling with an associate.

My arrogance knows no bounds and I will make no peace today, and you should be so lucky to find a woman like me.

Savor kindness because cruelty is always possible later.

Boredom makes you do crazy things

It's fun wandering around other people's minds.

On the worst days, I don't feel like an artist.

It is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender.

TRYING TO BE POPULAR IN HIGH SCHOOL IS LIKE TRYING TO BE MAYOR OF A CITY THAT WON'T EXIST IN FOUR YEARS.

Remember you always have freedom of choice.

Stupid people shouldn’t breed.

I get up about four times a night and go back to sleep, or not. Then I swill tea around 8 a.m. I answer e-mail, while I stall thinking about whatever scares me.

Fear is the most elegant weapon, your hands are never messy

Expressing anger is necessary.

That's the test of street art – to see if anybody stopped. People would cross out ones they didn't like and would star others. I liked that people would engage with them.

I wanted to support things that are helpful to people and maybe bash what I think is dangerous. So I switched from being everybody to being myself.

Killing is unavoidable but is nothing to be proud of

I moved to New York in the 1970s and started writing when I was at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program.

I wasn't sure I was an artist, so I thought maybe I just was throwing ideas out for people to consider.

At times inactivity is preferable to mindless functioning.

I seldom have my stuff up unless I'm testing it. If I'm worrying about a painting, I put it up and see if I detest it quickly or slowly. Otherwise I have things by other artists.

One of the glories and terrors of working in public is that you do see if your output means anything to anyone.

Faithfulness is a social not a biological law.

Someone else's body is a place for your mind to go.

All things are delicately interconnected.

If you have many desires your life will be interesting.

Abuse of power comes as no surprise

Use what is dominant in a culture to change it quickly.

Anger or hate can be a useful motivating force

I really like doing the laundry, because I succeed at it. But I loathe putting it away. It is already clean.

I am not free because I can be exploded anytime.

The most profound things are inexpressible.

It can be kind of gruesome at times, making things alone.

Lack of charisma can be fatal.

When my daughter was young, she thought all electronic signs were mine.

I wanted to be an abstract painter, but I was rotten at it.

Hands on your breast can keep your heart beating.

I was hesitant to approach people. I'm socially awkward. But I was working on a number of memorials, and finally it dawned on me: These are memorials to people who wrote, so I should use their writing. That's how I started to quit.

It's better to be a good person than a famous person.

It's good to be employable, but I hope to show the truth. The paintings seem true because nobody wants me to do them.

The greatest disappointment is when you let yourself down.

If you are an artist and you are honest, you are never good enough.

A name means a lot just by itself.