Jenny Holzer > Quotes

“In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy.”
― Jenny Holzer

“It is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Turn soft and lovely anytime you have the chance.”
― Jenny Holzer

“If you behaved nicely, the communists wouldn't exist.”
― Jenny Holzer, Jenny Holzer: Truisms And Essays

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

“Destroy superabundance. Starve the flesh, shave the hair, clarify the mind, define the will, restrain the senses, leave the family, flee the church, kill the vermin,vomit the heart, forget the dead. Limit time, forgo amusement, deny nature, reject acquaintances, discard objects, forget truths, dissect myth, stop motion, block impulse, choke sobs, swallow chatter. Scorn joy, scorn touch, scorn tragedy, scorn liberty, scorn constancy, scorn hope, scorn exaltation, scorn reproduction, scorn variety, scorn embellishment, scorn release, scorn rest, scorn sweetness, scorn light. It's a question of form as much as function. It is a matter of revulsion.”
― Jenny Holzer

“You are a victim of the rules you live by.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Ruin your fucking self before they do. Otherwise they'll screw you because you're a nobody. They'll keep you alive but you'll have to crawl and say "thank-you" for every bone they throw. You might as well stay drunk or shoot junk and be a crazy fucker. If the rich guys want to play with you, make them get their hands dirty. Send them away gagging, or sobbing if they're soft-hearted. You'll be left alone if you're frightening, and dead you're free!”
― Jenny Holzer

“Savor kindness because cruelty is always possible later.”
― Jenny Holzer

“I WALK IN / I SEE YOU / I WATCH YOU / I SCAN YOU / I WAIT FOR YOU / I TICKLE YOU / I TEASE YOU / I SEARCH YOU / I BREATHE YOU / I TALK / I SMILE / I TOUCH YOUR HAIR / YOU ARE THE ONE / YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID THIS TO ME / YOU ARE MY OWN / I SHOW YOU / I FEEL YOU / I ASK YOU / I DON’T ASK / I DON’T WAIT / I WON’T ASK YOU / I CAN’T TELL YOU / I LIE / I AM CRYING HARD / THERE WAS BLOOD / NO ONE TOLD ME / NO ONE KNEW / MY MOTHER KNOWS / I FORGET YOUR NAME / I DON’T THINK / I BURY MY HEAD / I BURY YOUR HEAD / I BURY YOU / MY FEVER / MY SKIN / I CANNOT BREATHE / I CANNOT EAT / I CANNOT WALK / I AM LOSING TIME / I AM LOSING TIME / I AM LOSING GROUND / I CANNOT STAND IT / I CRY / I CRY OUT / I BITE / I BITE YOUR LIP / I BREATHE YOUR BREATH / I PULSE / I PRAY / I PRAY ALOUD / I SMELL YOU ON MY SKIN / I SAY THE WORD / I SAY YOUR NAME / I COVER YOU / I SHELTER YOU / I RUN FROM YOU / I SLEEP BESIDE YOU / I SMELL YOU ON MY CLOTHES / I KEEP YOUR CLOTHES”
― Jenny Holzer

“Protect me from what I want.”
― Jenny Holzer

“You confuse me with something that is in you. I will not predict how you want to use me.”
― Jenny Holzer

“SOME DAYS YOU WAKE AND
IMMEDIATELY START TO WORRY.
NOTHING IN PARTICULAR IS WRONG,
IT¹S JUST THE SUSPICION THAT
FORCES ARE ALIGNING QUIETLY
AND THERE WILL BE TROUBLE.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Food won't go down when you know your mother didn't want you, never liked to feed you, always hated you in her rooms. You were wrong to clutch and swallow and move your mouth. You must not be flushed, layered in fat or ripe from meat or she will despise your sight. Your skeleton cries, "I make no demands, I am ashamed of my needs, I am unworthy. I'm aware of those more deserving, those with prior and urgent claims to food." Skeleton says, "My safety is in slightness, my pride is denial. My victory is no gluttony, no guilt.”
― Jenny Holzer

“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.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Boredom makes you do crazy things.”
― Jenny Holzer

“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.”
― Jenny Holzer

“IT'S AN EXTRAORDINARY FEELING
WHEN PART OF YOUR BODY ARE
TOUCHED FOR THE FIRST TIME.
I'M THINKING OF THE SENSATIONS
FROM SEX AND SURGERY.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Knowing yourself lets you understand others.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Raise boys and girls the same way.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Expressing anger is necessary.”
― Jenny Holzer

“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.”
― Jenny Holzer

“YOU SHOULD LIMIT THE NUMBER OF TIMES
YOU ACT AGAINST YOUR NATURE,
LIKE SLEEPING WITH PEOPLE YOU HATE.
IT¹S INTERESTING TO TEST YOUR CAPABILITIES FOR A WHILE
BUT TOO MUCH WILL CAUSE DAMAGE.”
― Jenny Holzer

“At times inactivity is preferable to mindless functioning.”
― Jenny Holzer

“With all the holes in you already there's no reason to define the outside environment as alien.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Going with the flow is soothing but risky.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Alienation produces eccentrics or revolutionary.”
― Jenny Holzer

“A sense of timing is the mark of a genius.”
― Jenny Holzer

“Expiring for love is beautiful but stupid.”
― Jenny Holzer

“I try to excite myself so I stay crazy.”
― Jenny Holzer