“Oh, yes, I was a great retoucher. A retoucher is an esthetic surgeon !”

An effort impelled by desire must also have an automatic or subconscious energy to aid its realization.

When I saw I was under attack from all sides, I knew I was on the right track.

A creator needs only one enthusiast to justify him.

I would photograph an idea rather than an object, a dream rather than an idea.

I paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or from an unconscious drive.

I am an economic person; I judge the amount of work involved with the amount of worth attained.

One of the satisfactions of a genius is his will-power and obstinacy.

Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask ‘how’, while others of a more curious nature will ask ‘why’. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.

I photograph the things that I do not wish to paint, the things which already have an existence.

I paint what cannot be photographed, something from the imagination. I photograph the things I don’t want to paint, things that are already in existence.

If I’d had the nerve, I’d have become a thief or a gangster, but since I didn’t, I became a photographer.

The tricks of today are the truths of tomorrow.

Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.

I am not going to be dictated to by the size of the camera. I use everything from an 8 x 10 to a 35-mm. But I don’t use these modern cameras which break down all the time !

l photograph what l do not wish to paint and l paint that which l cannot photograph.

To me, a painter, if not the most useful, is the least harmful member of our society.

There is a tendency of people to try to make you believe only a few people are smart. As a brain surgeon, I know better than that.

I’m a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly. And Ben [Carson] you’re a terrible surgeon.

One of the reasons surgeons have so much trouble separating Siamese twins is that nobody gets to do many of them. On the table, the anatomy is so different from normal, that you’re constantly trying to figure out, ‘Can I cut this? Does this wire lead to what?’ It’s like trying to defuse a bomb.

You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to be a valuable person. You become valuable because of the knowledge that you have. And that doesn’t mean you won’t fail sometimes. The important thing is to keep trying.

He who wishes to be a surgeon should go to war.

With a novelist, like a surgeon, you have to get a feeling that you’ve fallen into good hands – someone from whom you can accept the anesthetic with confidence.

I met the surgeon general – he offered me a cigarette.

You can teach somebody how to be a brain surgeon, but you cannot teach them how to walk on a stage and make people laugh.