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You can win the rat race but you’re still a rat.

Banksy

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

Climbing Drunk Skills
It doesn’t take much to be a successful artist-all you need to do is dedicate your entire life to it.
BANKSY

Artist Needs Successful
I need someone to protect me from all the measures they take in order to protect me.
BANKSY

Art Need Order
If you feel dirty, insignificant or unloved, then rats are a good role model. They exist without permission, they have no respect for the hierarchy of society, and they have sex 50 times a day.
BANKSY

Dirty Models Role Sex
If you have a statue in the city centre you could go past it every day on your way to school and never even notice it, right. But as soon as someone puts a traffic cone on its head, you’ve made your own sculpture.
BANKSY

Cities Past School
The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal.
BANKSY

Art Artist Great Stealing
It’s a very frustrated feeling you get when the only people with good photos of you work are the police department.
BANKSY

Feelings People Police
A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to.
BANKSY

Independent People Use
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

Giving Rocks Space
Stencils are good for two reasons; one – they’re quick; two – they annoy idiots.
BANKSY

Annoying Idiot Two
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.
BANKSY

Art Graffiti Littles
I tell myself I use art to promote dissent, but maybe I am just using dissent to promote my art. I plead not guilty to selling out. But I plead it from a bigger house than I used to live in.
BANKSY

Art Guilty House
If you don’t own a train company then you go and paint on one instead… it all comes from that thing at school when you had to have name tags in the back of something… that makes it belong to you. You can own half the city by scribbling your name over it.
BANKSY

Cities Names School
When he time comes to leave, just walk away quietly and don’t make any fuss.
BANKSY

Come Fuss Leave Walk
I originally set out to try and save the world, but now I’m not sure I like it enough.
BANKSY

Graffiti Trying World
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.
BANKSY

Believe Cartoon Ties
When he time comes to leave, just walk away quietly and don’t make any fuss.
BANKSY

Away Come Fuss Quietly Walk
If it doesn’t matter, get rid of it. If you can’t get rid of it, it matters.
BANKSY

Get Matter Rid
The holy grail is to spend less time making the picture than it takes people to look at it.
BANKSY

Art Holy Grail People
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.
BANKSY

Art Lying People
If Michaelangelo or Leonardo Da Vinci were alive today they’d be making Avatar, not painting a chapel.
BANKSY

Alive Live Painting Today
Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a f**king sharp knife to it.
BANKSY

Inspirational Inspiring Life
Some people represent authority without ever possessing any of their own.
BANKSY

Authority People Piece Wall
I love the way capitalism finds a place – even for its enemies.
BANKSY

Capitalism Enemy Way
People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish… but that’s only if it’s done properly.
BANKSY

Graffiti Ironic People
The one thing you can rely on is if you get disturbed halfway through a painting and it looks a bit naff, then someone will preserve that piece, remove it and a few months later it’ll be paraded round Sotheby’s by people wearing white gloves.
BANKSY

Looks People White
The grumpier you are, the more assholes you meet.
BANKSY

Graffiti Negative People

You can win the rat race but you’re still a rat.

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You can win the rat race but you’re still a rat.

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