Quotes By Robert Mapplethorpe

Just because I was out at the bars all the time didn't mean I wasn't looking for someone to love.

People don't have time to wait for somebody to paint their portraits anymore. The money is in photography.

You're never going to get anywhere in life if you don't live up to your obligations.

To make pictures big is to make them more powerful.

Whenever you make love to someone, there should be three people involved - you, the other person, and the devil.

I don't believe in dogmas and theologies. I just believe in being a good person.

I would never have done what I'd done if I'd considered my father as somebody I wanted to please.

I am selfish, but that's an attribute that all artists possess.

One must ease the public into it - that's an art in itself.

I just want to be written about as a normal artist.

If I am at a party, I want to be at the party. Too many photographers use the camera to avoid participating in things. They become professional observers.

I don't think any collector knows his true motivation.

When I have sex with someone I forget who I am. For a minute I even forget I'm human. It's the same thing when I'm behind a camera. I forget I exist.

The more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.

I am obsessed with beauty. I want everything to be perfect, and of course it isn't. And that's a tough place to be because you're never satisfied.

I always thought I was good. That's why it was so frustrating when other people didn't agree.

I just try to live my life and do my thing.

My theory about creativity is that the more money one has, the more creative one can be.

The photographs that are art have to be separated from the rest - then preserved.

My father wants me to be like my brother, but I can't be.

My lifestyle is bizarre, but the only thing you need to know is where the darkroom is.

With photography, you zero in; you put a lot of energy into short moments, and then you go on to the next thing.

Sell the public flowers... things that they can hang on their walls without being uptight.

I see things like they've never been seen before. Art is an accurate statement of the time in which it is made.

I played around with the flowers and the lighting, so that was a good way to educate myself.

Beauty and the devil are the same thing.

I don't know why my pictures come out looking so good. I just don't get it.

I should try to get some sleep as one doesn't know what tomorrow may bring.

I'm not photographing anything naked these days. I haven't been concentrating on bodies recently.

I can't have just anybody assisting me, I need somebody who I can really communicate with.