"I am still a very optimistic person. I continue to do work with joy." — Patti Smith

What a model of an artist was for me was an artist who worked. Picasso was the ultimate model, because the work ethic he had.

Music television is all about the media-oriented version of what it is to be a rock star; it's not about what Bob Dylan or Jimi Hendrix were about - which included great images, sure, but they had spiritual and political and revolutionary content, too.

If I'm taking a picture of Brancusi's grave, I know that there's something of him, of his mortal remains, beneath my feet, and there's something beautiful about that.

Mohammed personally mapped out seven heavens. If he got to seven, you know there's more.