Jenny Holzer quotes:

I moved to New York in the 1970s and started writing when I was at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program.

Well, I think in trying to make life seem real enough that one is moved to do something about the more atrocious things. By going really far afield into a completely fake world, maybe there's a chance to make things resonant somehow - or in this case, truly terrifying. To make it as bad as the real stuff that's happening.

I really like doing the laundry, because I succeed at it. But I loathe putting it away. It is already clean.

It's better to be a good person than a famous person.

It's necessary to start most work alone. But I'm tickled to death when I can pull somebody in or join someone, whether it's borrowing poetry or traveling with an associate.

Usually going places makes me feel optimistic. And I'm a hillbilly, so heading to the countryside made sense a number of ways.

I think of a piece, and then people who are competent fabricate it. But lately I've started finger painting, which probably should be a joke but isn't!

Lack of charisma can be fatal.

The epiphany for me was that I wasnt a writer, and I had to do something with these texts. I put them in the streets as posters.

I wanted to support things that are helpful to people and maybe bash what I think is dangerous. So I switched from being everybody to being myself.

I'd paint long strips of canvas and abandon them on the beach, or put bread out in geometric patterns for the pigeons downtown. I wanted people to find something nice and intriguing to puzzle over. Then I'd go back to see if the things were still there, or if anyone would notice.

One thing that changed when I moved upstate was that I became interested in different materials. I started making the stone benches because I was seeing rocks.

I suspect you've noticed that making art can be lonely.

Slipping into madness is good for the sake of comparison

Company makes my day.

Expressing anger is necessary.

Going with the flow is soothing but risky.

If you are an artist and you are honest, you are never good enough.

I seldom have my stuff up unless I'm testing it. If I'm worrying about a painting, I put it up and see if I detest it quickly or slowly. Otherwise I have things by other artists.

It's fun wandering around other people's minds.

I began to see that the short texts I was writing were poster material.

My arrogance knows no bounds and I will make no peace today, and you should be so lucky to find a woman like me.

I was hesitant to approach people. I'm socially awkward. But I was working on a number of memorials, and finally it dawned on me: These are memorials to people who wrote, so I should use their writing. That's how I started to quit.

I get up about four times a night and go back to sleep, or not. Then I swill tea around 8 a.m. I answer e-mail, while I stall thinking about whatever scares me.

Expiring for love is beautiful but stupid.

When my daughter was young, she thought all electronic signs were mine.

FEW CAN IGNORE A BABY'S CRIES,EVEN IF THE RESPONSE IS IRRITATION.THIS IS ONE OF THE BUILT IN SAFEGUARDSTHAT IS SUPPOSED TO GUARANTEETHE SURVIVAL OF THE RACE."

HOW CONCISE THAT YOU CAN CRY FROMAWFUL WOUNDS, DESERTION, HAPPINESS,MEMORIES, HUMILIATION,DISAPPOINTMENT OR GRANDEUR.

WHEN YOU'RE TRYING SOMETHING NEW,YOU'RE TORN BETWEENANTICIPATING A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISEAND THINKING YOU'RE A FOOL TOIGNORE WHAT YOU KNOW YOU LIKE.

THERE'S NO REASON TO SLEEPCURLED UP AND BENT.IT'S NOT COMFORTABLE,IT'S NOT GOOD FOR YOU, AND ITDOESN'T PROTECT YOU FROM DANGER.IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT AN ATTACKYOU SHOULD STAY AWAKEOR SLEEP LIGHTLY WITHLIMBS UNFURLED FOR ACTION.

I'd been doing projects outdoors for the public. I made pigeons eat geometry by putting bread out in rhomboids and triangles. I don't know if this activity made sense, but the work was available.

On the worst days, I don't feel like an artist.

The most profound things are inexpressible.

I used language because I wanted to offer content that people - not necessarily art people - could understand.

So much of art-making is about reducing things to the essentials, so I don't feel particularly crippled by this. I don't want it to look natural because then I would be making a documentary film.

The desperate things seem to require attention, the lovely things seem to elicit celebration. If I had to choose, I would go to the awful in the hope that doing something could yield a happier result.

The epiphany for me was that I wasn't a writer, and I had to do something with these texts. I put them in the streets as posters.

I am not free because I can be exploded anytime.

One of the glories and terrors of working in public is that you do see if your output means anything to anyone.

It can be kind of gruesome at times, making things alone.

That's the test of street art - to see if anybody stopped. People would cross out ones they didn't like and would star others. I liked that people would engage with them.

Sloppy thinking gets worse over time.

Protect me from what I want.

At times inactivity is preferable to mindless functioning.

THERE IS A PERIOD WHEN IT IS CLEAR THAT YOU HAVE GONE WRONG BUT YOU CONTINUE. SOMETIMES THERE IS A LUXURIOUS AMOUNT OF TIME BEFORE ANYTHING BAD HAPPENS.

You are a victim of the rules you live by.

If you have many desires your life will be interesting.

Abuse of power comes as no surprise

TRYING TO BE POPULAR IN HIGH SCHOOL IS LIKE TRYING TO BE MAYOR OF A CITY THAT WON'T EXIST IN FOUR YEARS.

BY YOUR RESPONSE TO DANGER IT IS EASY TO TELL HOW YOU HAVE LIVED AND WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO YOU. YOU SHOW WHETHER YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE, WHETHER YOU THINK YOU DESERVE TO, AND WHETHER YOU BELIEVE IT'S ANY GOOD TO ACT.

All things are delicately interconnected.

Ensure that your life stays in flux.

I wasn't sure I was an artist, so I thought maybe I just was throwing ideas out for people to consider.

When you start liking pain things start to get interesting.

Fear is the most elegant weapon, your hands are never messy

A lot of professionals are crackpots.

Everyone's work is equally important.

Drama often obscures the real issues

Being alone with yourself is increasingly unpopular.

It is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender.

A sense of timing is the mark of a genius.

Turn soft and lovely any time you have a chance

Enjoy yourself because you can't change anything anyway

I try to excite myself so I stay crazy.

It's important to keep life simple, and if I'm traveling, I only can do a couple of things, and those are the things that I'm meant to be doing.

Killing is unavoidable but is nothing to be proud of

Boredom makes you do crazy things

At times your unconsciousness is truer than your conscious mind

Being happy is more important than anything else.

What urge will save us now that sex won't?

Faithfulness is a social not a biological law.

There's a fine line between information and propaganda.

Exceptional people deserve special concessions.

How do you resign yourself to something that will never be? You stop wanting just that thing. You go numb. Or you kill the agent of desire.

Alienation produces eccentrics or revolutionaries.

It is embarrassing to be caught and killed for stupid reasons

Anger or hate can be a useful motivating force

Remember you always have freedom of choice.

I wanted to be an abstract painter, but I was rotten at it.

Deviants are sacrificed to increase group solidarity

Stupid people shouldn't breed.

The greatest disappointment is when you let yourself down.

Disgust is the appropriate response to most situations

Someone else's body is a place for your mind to go.

Raise boys and girls the same way.

A sense of duty imprisons you.

SPIT ALL OVER SOMEONE WITH A MOUTHFUL OF MILK IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR PERSONALITY FAST.

A little knowledge can go a long way.

A name means a lot just by itself.

Knowing yourself lets you understand others.

Turn soft and lovely anytime you have the chance.

Savor kindness because cruelty is always possible later.

A positive attitude means all the difference in the world.

It's good to be employable, but I hope to show the truth. The paintings seem true because nobody wants me to do them.

I'm always trying to bring unusual content to a different audience - a non-art-world audience.

It can be kind of gruesome at times, making things alone. I don't want to be too dramatic, but it's hard. It's necessary to start most work alone.

Romantic love was invented to manipulate women

Any surplus is immoral.

Use what is dominant in a culture to change it quickly.

Hands on your breast can keep your heart beating.