I never thought, "I'm going to be an artist". When I actually began to become successful in the art world I made it a point to say, 'I am a dilettante, I am not a professional artist", which is true.

I never went to art school and I never thought of going to an art school. It was just a way of manifesting these ideas I had. Ideas came to me that I needed to express.

Artists are going to be the metronome of this society.

The first idea, the first art piece I ever did, was when I was four. I cut the seed of a pear in half and the seed of an apple in half in put those two halves together and planted the seed, hoping a very strange tree might grow. And I never stopped.

Art for me is like breathing.

But only art and music have the power to bring peace.

Sometimes I have compared myself with a scientist or something: when you discover something and you don't expect the whole world to understand it. I always thought I was doing that kind of activity, in art and in music too.

I really feel that artists or musicians are controversial people. Controversy is part of the nature of art and creativity. If people are not doing that, they're not artists - they're artisans.

Every drop in the ocean counts.

There's a long life ahead of you and it's going to be beautiful, as long as you keep loving and hugging each other.

We're growing up together, the human race. And we've discovered a lot of things that we didn't know. We're finding our way. Instead of thinking about doomsday all the time, think about how beautiful the world is. We're all together, and together we're getting wiser.

We are all dreamers creating the next world, the next beautiful world for ourselves and for our children.

To have a relationship that is pure and passionate and beautiful - I think people are scared of having that now. Especially guys.

Tell the Earth how much you care, how beautiful she is, and how much you love her. Ask for her forgiveness for having been so careless.

Dance in your dream. Go out into the street and hug everyone you meet. Tell them how beautiful they are. Dance together.

What a beautiful future it will be! Don't worry about life being boring. It will never be.

Look at yourself in the mirror and don't be afraid to notice how beautiful you are.

You are beautiful. Don't ever think you are not. It may be such a compliment that does not come from a man too often. They are shy, proud, and rude. Give yourself some love. And walk as what you are - a beautiful woman. All your life.

Don't ever give up on life. Life can be so beautiful, especially after you've spent a lot of time with it.

I'm a politician. Politics is just a convenience for our life and we just have to create a beautiful world together that would be very convenient for us and just enjoyable.

I often wish my mother had died so that at least I could get some people's sympathy. But there she was, a perfectly beautiful mother.

You're out of the shot, ... Do you mind playing a little nearer to the camera?

When you burn the chair, you suddenly realize that the chair in your mind did not burn or disappear

Unclog your mind. Unclog your room. Arrange your room in a way you wish your mind would be.

you don't need talent to be an artist. 'Artist' is just a frame of mind. Anybody can be an artist, anybody can communicate if they are desperate enough.

I have to be pretty inclusive. I have to be pretty much inside of me rather than going out and finding out what people are doing. I don't have the time to. I just listen to my mind, in a way.

Be kind once a day - even if it's just in your mind.

You may think I’m small, but I have a universe inside my mind.

If someone is unpleasant to you, draw a halo around his or her head in your mind. He/she is an angel who came to teach you something.

If everybody thinks of something, then it will happen. Your mind is part of the universe. It is connected, you can use its energy.

People make music to get a reaction. Music is communication.

When I'm putting some communication out on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram, I think that it's helping me, my brain, you know, because it's always somehow stimulated by people who are sending things to me. And it works both ways. It's great. My brain is very happy about it.

You know harmony only exists in music-isn't that amazing? I think that if you see earth from very far away, the color is blue. That is very interesting because blue is the color of communication.

I see so many activists... who are artists because they feel that they have the power of communication.

We mustn't be traditional in the way we communicate with people - especially with the Establishment. We should surprise people by saying new things in an entirely new way. Communication of that sort can have a fantastic power so long as you don't do only what they expect you to do.

We don't read people's wishes. The wishes are suppose to be direct communication to the Universe. Your interception will weaken the power of the wish.

In the present age when communication is so rapid, we should create a different tradition, traditions are created everyday. Five years now is like 100 years before. We are living in a society that has no history. There's no precedent for this kind of society so we can break the old patterns.

I have the outsider's vision, which is creating wisdom I can share with the world. The fact that I am misunderstood has always given me an added impetus to work on communication to bridge the gap.

In a way the new music showed things could be transformed by new channels of communication.

Experiencing sadness and anger can make you feel more creative, and by being creative, you can get beyond your pain or negativity.

Controversy is part of the nature of art and creativity.

I always believed that my work should be unfinished in the sense that I encourage people to add their creativity to it, either conceptually or physically. Back in the 1960s, I was calling for 'Unfinished Music,' number one, and number two, with my artwork - I was taking unfinished work into the gallery. And that's how I was looking at it.

Creativity is innate and it manifests itself in so many forms. It needs to come out somehow or it destroys you in some way.

I think people place limitations on each other and on ourselves. There is a great fear of expressing ourselves, of making creativity happen.

It's better to dance than to march through life.

I really feel that artists or musicians are controversial people. Controversy is part of the nature of art and creativity. If people are not doing that, they're not artists - they're artisans.

My heart is mysteriously alive in the world of sounds - a totally different dimension from the daily life.

You should do something that will make your heart dance once a day. If you can't do that because you're too depressed, then do something that will make somebody else's heart dance.

I am aware of the sufferings of women in India, which is also the suffering of women in many, many countries on our planet. My heart is filled with empathy and love for them.

When you are feeling bad, do one thing a day to make your heart dance. It could be a simple thing like looking up at the sky.