Robert Mapplethorpe Quotations

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

I went into photography because it seemed like the perfect vehicle for commenting on the madness of today's existence.

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

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

To make pictures big is to make them more powerful

Beauty and the devil are the same thing.

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

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

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

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

When I work, and in my art, I hold hands with God.

I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

People have done pornographic pictures forever, but most of the people who involve themselves in explicit sexuality aren't really artists.

I think that it was a great advantage to go into photography not knowing much about it. Not thinking. I think one of the problems with many photographers today is that they never see for themselves, but just like everybody else...

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

I recorded that because it happened to me. I wasn't making a point

I've never lied. I think I've lived a moral life

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

Happiness? No, it's not there for me.

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

I became the toast of London. A lot of people I met came from these really decadent families where the married men were gay and no one thought anything about it.

I stand naked when I draw. God holds my hand and we sing together.

I wish I could be elegant.

I don't think that there's that much difference between a photograph of a fist up someone's ass and a photograph of carnations in a bowl.

Whether it's an orgy or a cocktail party, I know how to do it.

When I’m behind a camera I forget I exist

The best picture I got was Bianca Jagger whispering in Mick's ear. I caught them telling a secret, which is sort of rude.

This AIDS stuff is pretty scary. I hope I don't get it.

When I create art, it's like holding hands with God.

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

I want to see something I've never seen before.

I was a Catholic boy, I went to church every Sunday. A church has a certain magic and mystery for a child. It still shows in how I arrange things. It's always little altars.

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

My work is about seeing - seeing things like they haven't been seen before.

If I have to change my lifestyle, I don't want to live

If I had been born one or two hundred years ago, I might have been a sculptor, but photography is a very quick way to see, to make sculpture.

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

I don't use recreational drugs, except for cocaine, hallucinogens, and nitrates.

I never liked photography. Not for the sake of photography. I like the object. I like the photographs when you hold them in your hand.

I just hope I can live long enough to see the fame.

I just want to be written about as a normal artist

I come from suburban America. It was a very safe environment and it was a good place to come from in that it was a good place to leave.

I like to look at pictures, all kinds. And all those things you absorb come out subconsciously one way or another. You'll be taking photographs and suddenly know that you have resources from having looked at a lot of them before. There is no way you can avoid this. But this kind of subconscious influence is good, and it certainly can work for one. In fact, the more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.

If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it's as though I've neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up.

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

I don't like that particular word 'shocking.' I'm looking for the unexpected. I'm looking for things I've never seen before … I was in a position to take those pictures. I felt an obligation to do them.

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.