“The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a great and glorious nation. Favourite amongst his subjects was the court painter of whom he was very proud. Everybody agreed this wizzened old man pianted the greatest pictures in the whole kingdom and the king would spend hours each day gazing at them in wonder. However, one day a dirty and dishevelled stranger presented himself at the court claiming that in fact he was the greatest painter in the land. The indignant king decreed a competition would be held between the two artists, confident it would teach the vagabond an embarrassing lesson. Within a month they were both to produce a masterpiece that would out do the other. After thirty days of working feverishly day and night, both artists were ready. They placed their paintings, each hidden by a cloth, on easels in the great hall of the castle. As a large crowd gathered, the king ordered the cloth be pulled first from the court artist’s easel. Everyone gasped as before them was revealed a wonderful oil painting of a table set with a feast. At its centre was an ornate bowl full of exotic fruits glistening moistly in the dawn light. As the crowd gazed admiringly, a sparrow perched high up on the rafters of the hall swooped down and hungrily tried to snatch one of the grapes from the painted bowl only to hit the canvas and fall down dead with shock at the feet of the king. ’Aha!’ exclaimed the king. ’My artist has produced a painting so wonderful it has fooled nature herself, surely you must agree that he is the greatest painter who ever lived!’ But the vagabond said nothing and stared solemnly at his feet. ’Now, pull the blanket from your painting and let us see what you have for us,’ cried the king. But the tramp remained motionless and said nothing. Growing impatient, the king stepped forward and reached out to grab the blanket only to freeze in horror at the last moment. ’You see,’ said the tramp quietly, ’there is no blanket covering the painting. This is actually just a painting of a cloth covering a painting. And whereas your famous artist is content to fool nature, I’ve made the king of the whole country look like a clueless little twat.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Become good at cheating and you never need to become good at anything else.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Once upon a time there was a bear and a bee who lived in a wood and were the best of friends. All summer long the bee collected nectar from morning to night while the bear lay on his back basking in the long grass. When winter came the bear realised he had nothing to eat and thought to himself 'I hope that busy little bee will share some of his honey with me.' But the bee was nowhere to be found - he had died of a stress induced coronary disease.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“People either love me or they hate me, or they don't really care.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“You owe the companies nothing. You especially don't owe them any courtesy. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said, 'That's clever. It's an anagram of art,' and I had to pretend I'd known that all along.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Sometimes I feel so sick at the state of the world I can't even finish my second apple pie.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“I don't believe in anything. I'm just here for the violence.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“People who enjoy waving flags don't deserve to have one”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Live as a villain, die as a hero”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Some people represent authority without ever possessing any of their own.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“If you are dirty, insignificant and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“I like to think I have the guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no-one else believes in - like peace and justice and freedom.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“When the time comes to leave, just walk away quietly and don't make any fuss.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Painting something that defies the law of the land is good. Painting something that defies the law of the land and the law of gravity at the same time is ideal.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Policemen and security guards wear hats with a peak that comes down low over their eyes. Apparently this is for psychological reasons. Eyebrows are very expressive and you appear a lot more authoritative if you keep them covered up. The advantage of this is that it makes a lot harder for cops to see anything more than six foot off the ground. Which is why painting rooftops and bridges is so easy.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“If you want someone to be ignored then build a life-size bronze statue of them and stick it in the middle of town. It doesn't matter how great you were, it'll always take an unfunny drunk with climbing skills to make people notice you.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“Brandalism
Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It belongs to you. It's yours to take, rearrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“There's no way you're going to get a quote from us to use on your book cover" - Metropolitan Police Spokesperson”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
“On Painting Rats, and the Glorification of Them. They exist without permission. They are hated, hunted and persecuted. They live in quiet desperation amongst the filth. And yet they are capable of bringing entire civilizations to their knees. If you are dirty, insignificant, and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model.”
― Banksy, quote from Wall and Piece
Banksy
Born place: The United Kingdom
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“On the whole, she reflected with a loopy clarity while pain clanged back and forth in her head and the guard held her upright, she liked being rescued. It was better than not being rescued. Definitely.”
― Stephen R. Donaldson, quote from The Mirror of Her Dreams
“إن قناعتي العميقة هي أن المستقبل غير مدوّن في أي مكان، وأن المستقبل سيكون ما نصنعه نحن منه.”
― Amin Maalouf, quote from In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong
“I squeezed her hand and said nothing. I knew little about Keats or his poetry, but I thought it possible that in his hopeless situation he would not have wanted to write precisely because he loved her so much. Lately I'd had the idea that Clarissa's interest in these hypothetical letters had something to do with our own situation, and with her conviction that love that did not find its expression in a letter was not perfect. In the months after we'd met, and before we'd bought the apartment, she had written me some beauties, passionately abstract in the ways our love was different from and superior to any that had ever existed. Perhaps that's the essence of a love letter, to celebrate the unique. I had tried to match her, but all that sincerity would permit me were the facts, and they seemed miraculous enough to me: a beautiful woman loved and wanted to be loved by a large, clumsy, balding fellow who could hardly believe his luck.”
― Ian McEwan, quote from Enduring Love
“Books, indeed, were his sole luxuries”
― Edgar Allan Poe, quote from The Murders in the Rue Morgue: The Dupin Tales
“Rain slips through your fingers as easily as words blow away in the wind, and yet it has the power to destroy your whole world.”
― Karen Maitland, quote from Company of Liars
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