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.
BanksyRead
People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Graffiti can be perceived negatively, but it is often the execution that defines its value.
In this quote, Banksy reflects on the public perception of graffiti as a form of art. He suggests that the judgment surrounding graffiti often depends on the artistry and intention behind it, indicating that when done with skill and purpose, graffiti can transcend its reputation and serve as a powerful form of expression and critique in society.
Themes
GraffitiArtExpressionPerceptionCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in an art presentation to highlight unconventional forms of artistic expression.
More from Banksy
All quotes βT.V. has made going to the theatre seem pointless, photography has pretty much killed painting but graffiti has remained gloriously unspoilt by progress.
BanksyRead
I originally set out to try and save the world, but now I'm not sure I like it enough.
BanksyRead
Graffiti ultimately wins out over proper art because it becomes part of your city, it' s a tool; "I'll meet you in that pub, you know, the one opposite that wall with a picture of a monkey holding a chainsaw". I mean, how much more useful can a painting be than that?
BanksyRead
Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a f**king sharp knife to it.
BanksyRead
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 donβt have their electricity and drinking water cut off randomly almost every day.
BanksyRead
Similar quotes
I can't be alone among fiction writers in regarding the world, so much weirder than anything we could make up, as beating us at our own game or in racking my brains over what could possibly constitute a contribution when novels pale before the newspaper.
Lionel ShriverRead
I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.
Truman CapoteRead
The violinist is that peculiarly human phenomenon distilled to a rare potency---half tiger,half poet.
Yehudi MenuhinRead
At our present bad moment, we need above all to recover our sense of literary individuality and of poetic autonomy.
Harold BloomRead
Damn the age. I'll write for antiquity.
Charles LambRead
No poet is ever completely lost. He has the secret of his childhood safe with him, like some secret cave in which he can kneel. And, when we read his poetry, we can join him there.
Peter AckroydRead