Banksy Quotes

“A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves.”

“A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to.”

“Anyone who believes in capital punishment should be shot.”

“Art is not like other culture because its success is not made by its audience. The public fills concert halls and cinemas every day, we read novels by the millions and buy records by the billions. We the people, affect the making and the quality of most of our culture, but not our art.

The Art we look at is made by only a select few. A small group create, promote, purchase, exhibit and decide the success of Art. Only a few hundred people in the world have a real say. When you go to an Art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at a trophy cabinet of a few millionaires.”

“Become good at cheating and you never need to become good at anything else.”

“Live as a villain, die as a hero.”

“Nobody ever listened to me until they didn't know who I was.”

“On Painting Rats, and the Glorification of Them. They exist without permission. They are hated, hunted and persecuted. They live in quiet desperation amongst the filth.

And yet they are capable of bringing entire civilizations to their knees. If you are dirty, insignificant, and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model.”

“Once upon a time there was a bear and a bee who lived in a wood and were the best of friends. All summer long the bee collected nectar from morning to night while the bear lay on his back basking in the long grass.

When winter came the bear realised he had nothing to eat and thought to himself 'I hope that busy little bee will share some of his honey with me.' But the bee was nowhere to be found – he had died of a stress induced coronary disease.”

“People either love me or they hate me, or they don't really care.”

“People seem to think if they dress like a revolutionary they don`t actually have to behave like one.”

“People who enjoy waving flags don't deserve to have one.”

“Policemen and security guards wear hats with a peak that comes down low over their eyes. Apparently this is for psychological reasons. Eyebrows are very expressive and you appear a lot more authoritative if you keep them covered up.

The advantage of this is that it makes a lot harder for cops to see anything more than six foot off the ground. Which is why painting rooftops and bridges is so easy.”

“Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.”

“The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages.”

“Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a f*cking sharp knife to it.”

“You can win the rat race but you're still a rat. The human race is an unfair and stupid competition.

A lot of the runners don't even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water. Some runners are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side.

It's not surprising a lot of people have given up competing altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk food and shout abuse. What we need in this race is a lot more streakers.”

“You owe the companies nothing. You especially don't owe them any courtesy. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs.”