René Magritte > Quotes

“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is impossible. Humans hide their secrets too well....”
― Rene Magritte

“Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist”
― René Magritte

“If the dream is a translation of waking life, waking life is also a translation of the dream.”
― René Magritte

“The mind loves the unknown. It loves images whose meaning is unknown, since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown.”
― René Magritte

“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present.”
― René Magritte

“I despise my own past and that of others. I despise resignation, patience, professional heroism and all the obligatory sentiments. I also despise the decorative arts, folklore, advertising, radio announcers' voices, aerodynamics, the Boy Scouts, the smell of naphtha, the news, and drunks.
I like subversive humor, freckles, women's knees and long hair, the laughter of playing children, and a girl running down the street.
I hope for vibrant love, the impossible, the chimerical.
I dread knowing precisely my own limitations.”
― René Magritte

“An object is not so attached to its name that we cannot find another one that would suit it better.”
― Rene Magritte

“This is not a pipe.”
― Rene Magritte

“We are surrounded by curtains. We only perceive the world behind a curtain of semblance. At the same time, an object needs to be covered in order to be recognized at all.”
― René Magritte

“I do not like money, either for itself or for what it can buy, since I want nothing we know about.”
― René Magritte

“Visible things can be invisible. However, our powers of thought grasp both the visible and the invisible – and I make use of painting to render thoughts visible.”
― René Magritte

“What he imagines evokes nothing imaginary, it evokes the reality of the world that experience and reason treat in a confused manner.”
― René Magritte

“Between words and objects one can create new relations and specify characteristics of language and objects generally ignored in everyday life.”
― René Magritte

“We must not fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world.”
― René Magritte

“It is not my intention to make anything comprehensible. I am of the opinion that there are sufficient paintings which one understands after a shorter or longer delay, and that therefore some incomprehensible painting would now be welcome. I am at pains to deliver such, as far as possible.”
― Rene Magritte

“As regards the artists themselves, most of them gave up their freedom quite lightly, placing their art at the service of someone or something. As a rule, their concerns and their ambitions are those of any old careerist. I thus acquired a total distrust of art and artists, whether they were officially recognised or were endeavouring to become so, and I felt that I had nothing in common with this guild. I had a point of reference which held me elsewhere, namely that magic within art which I had encountered as a child.”
― René Magritte

“If one looks at a thing with the intention of trying to discover what it means, one ends up no longer seeing the thing itself, but of thinking of the question that is raised.”
― René Magritte

“Everyday objects shriek aloud.”
― René Magritte

“He is no longer the pretext for a story: the story itself renders him homage. The works of Fantomas can neither be destroyed nor accept modifications. ...Fantomas requires more of others than of himself ... He is never completely invisible. His likeness can be seen through his face. ... Fantomas's science is more precious than the word. It is not possible to guess it - and no one can doubt its power.”
― René Magritte

“Cher Monsieur Dupierreux,

La bêtise est un spectacle fort affligeant mais la colère d'un imbécile a quelque chose de réconfortant. Aussi je tiens à vous remercier pour les quelques lignes que vous avez consacrées à mon exposition.

Tout le monde m'assure que vous n'êtes qu'une vieille pompe à merde et que vous ne méritez pas la moindre attention. Il va sans dire que je n'en crois rien et vous prie de croire cher monsieur Dupierreux en mes sentiments les meilleurs.

3 mai 1936 - René Magritte”
― René Magritte