More from Banksy
You can win the rat race but you’re still a rat.
BanksyBanksy I don’t believe in anything. I’m just here for the violence.
BanksyBanksy I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website – but on the internet, people only look at pictures of kittens.
BanksyBanksy If it doesn’t matter, get rid of it. If you can’t get rid of it, it matters.
BanksyBanksy A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to.
BanksyBanksy Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they’re having a piss.
BanksyBanksy The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.
BanksyBanksy Bus stops are far more interesting and useful places to have art than in museums.
BanksyBanksy All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?
BanksyBanksy Nobody knows what you feel inside unless you tell them.
BanksyBanksy If you want to say something and have people listen then you have to wear a mask. If you want to be honest then you have to live a lie.
BanksyBanksy Gaza is often described as ‘the world’s largest open air prison’ because no-one is allowed to enter or leave. But that seems a bit unfair to prisons – they don’t have their electricity and drinking water cut off randomly almost every day.
BanksyBanksy A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves.
BanksyBanksy T.V. has made going to the theatre seem pointless, photography has pretty much killed painting but graffiti has remained gloriously unspoilt by progress.
BanksyBanksy Although you might have to creep about at night and lie to your mum it’s actually one of the more honest art forms available. There is no elitism or hype, it exhibits on the best walls a town has to offer and nobody is put off by the price of admission.
BanksyBanksy My lawyer’s opinion is that the cops might not actually be able to charge me with criminal damage any more – because theoretically my graffiti actually increases the value of property rather than decreasing it. That’s his theory, but then my lawyer also believes wearing novelty cartoon ties is a good look.
BanksyBanksy
Original quotes
From our community writers
They bleed not in the mouth but through their ink – indelible and dark.
Juana GarciaJuana Garcia I would rather shoot my arrows than keep them in my bow, I would rather risk it all than risk nothing at all.
ShamaShama I wish I knew then all of the things I know now that I am enough.
TMCTMC I feel like I’m on fire, fighting for a moment on respite – I’m not placing bets.
M.K. StandbyM.K. Standby I found him in all the chaos, and that was when my world started making sense again.
MoomerMoomer The judgement that people cast on you for how you do or do not appear is nothing more than just a projection of their own wounds.
Taj AroraTaj Arora Be grateful for what you have now, even if it’s not everything you wanted.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis It seems strange how we look in the same mirror, yet what stares back, is so painfully different.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin
More on police
The Germans could not get over the perfidy of it. It was unbelievable that the English, having degenerated to the stage where suffragettes heckled the Prime Minister and defied the police, were going to fight.
Barbara TuchmanBarbara Tuchman This feeling African-Americans have, this skepticism towards the police and the skepticism that the police show towards African-Americans is actually quite old. And it may be one of the most durable aspects of the relationship between black people and their country really in our history.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates To live in poverty is to live with constant uncertainty, to accept galling indignities, and to expect harassment by the police, welfare officials and employers, as well as by others who are poor and desperate.
Barbara EhrenreichBarbara Ehrenreich Law enforcement officers are never ‘off duty.’ They are dedicated public servants who are sworn to protect public safety at any time and place that the peace is threatened. They need all the help that they can get.
Barbara BoxerBarbara Boxer Do a lot of stuff. But always do things the right way. Went to the police academy to become a police officer.
Shaquille O'NealShaquille O'Neal It’s a very frustrated feeling you get when the only people with good photos of you work are the police department.
BanksyBanksy When it comes to reflexes, i’m like a cat. I’m catwoman. I’m invulnerable. The only reason he got a piece of me is because of the rain. Cats don’t like water. It impairs us. It’s our kryptonite.
Becca FitzpatrickBecca Fitzpatrick Policemen are seldom tried for their crimes, or indeed, held responsible for what they do, which disturbs the peace and causes distress among the orderly.
Gore VidalGore Vidal
