"An artist is somebody who enters into competition with God."

"In art and dream may you proceed with abandon. In life may you proceed with balance and stealth."

"When I was younger, I felt it was my duty to wake people up. I thought poetry was asleep. I thought rock 'n' roll was asleep."

"The new artists coming through were very materialistic and Hollywood, not so engaged in communication."

"No, my work does not reflect my sexual preferences, it reflects the fact that I feel total freedom as an artist."

"I think I'm constantly in a state of adjustment."

"Somehow I started introducing writing into my drawings, and after a time, the language took over and I started getting very involved with the handwriting and then the look of the handwriting."

"Then I read Little Women, and of course, like a lot of really young girls, I was very taken with Jo - Jo being the writer and the misfit."

"Horses pretty much broke as a record in England."

"An artist may have burdens the ordinary citizen doesn't know, but the ordinary citizen has burdens that many artists never even touch."

"My mother answers all my fan mail."

"Rock n' roll is dream soup, what's your brand?"

"In the period where I had to live the life of a citizen - a life where, like everybody else, I did tons of laundry and cleaned toilet bowls, changed hundreds of diapers and nursed children - I learned a lot."

"I always enjoyed doing transgender songs."

"If I have any regrets, I could say that I'm sorry I wasn't a better writer or a better singer."

"I've always thrived on the encouragement of others."

"Americans just don't know what being a movie star's all about."

"First of all, anybody who has lasted 30 and went through the 60's is really a survivor."

"Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand."

"Let's just say that I think any person who aspires, presumes, or feels the calling to be an artist has a built-in sense of duty."

"I have a daughter who's 11 years old. Maybe she'll grow up independent and really really heavy and become a movie star and she'll play me in my life story."

"As far as I'm concerned, being any gender is a drag."

"Besides me wanting to be an artist, I wanted to be a movie star."

"Never let go of that fiery sadness called desire."

"I like gettin' old."

"I never thought I was gonna live to 30."

"In fact, I thought my calling was to be a painter."

"Artists are traditionally resistant to labels."

"Everyone thinks of God as a man - you can't help it - Santa Claus was a man, therefore God has to be a man."

"Christianity made us think there's one heaven."

"Maybe I'll be 48 and die in the gutter in Paris."

"My sunglasses are like my guitar."

"People have the power to redeem the work of fools."

"I had a really happy childhood - my siblings were great, my mother was very fanciful, and I loved to read. But there was always financial strife."