40 Quotes by Banksy that will make you think

03/24/2026 by

Today, I am exploring quotes by Banksy.

Banksy is a pseudonymous artist, political activist, and film director based in England. He is particularly well known for his satirical graffiti art. His identity has never been publicly confirmed.

Banksy has been active since the 1990s

His work, which bears elements of political and social commentary, has appeared on streets, walls, and bridges throughout the world.

Above all, his work is thoughtful and offers powerful messages about the state of the world.

Love him or hate him, he is someone we cannot ignore, despite not really knowing who he is.

Nevertheless, many quotes are credited to Banksy, and I offer you 40 of them in this post, dear reader.

I found them interesting, and I hope you do too.

Please feel free to share them.

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Quotes by Banksy:

  1. Copyright is for losers.
  2. Live as a villain, die as a hero.
  3. Be positive, patient, and persistent.
  4. If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.
  5. Sometimes the right thing to do is the wrong thing.
  6. People either love me, hate me, or don’t really care.
  7. One original thought is worth 1000 meaningless quotes.
  8. I don’t believe in anything. I’m just here for the violence.
  9. Nobody ever listened to me until they didn’t know who I was.
  10. Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.
  11. I want to live in a world created by art, not just decorated with it.
  12. Remember – it’s always easier to get forgiveness than permission.
  13. A lot of people never use their initiative because no one told them to.
  14. Some people represent authority without ever possessing any of their own.
  15. When the time comes to leave, just walk away quietly and don’t make any fuss.
  16. If you are dirty, insignificant, and unloved, then rats are the ultimate role model.
  17. Become good at cheating, and you never need to become good at anything else.
  18. A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves.
  19. There are no exceptions to the rule that everyone thinks they’re an exception to the rules.
  20. People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible, and childish, but that’s only if it’s done properly.
  21. Nothing is black and white, and there is no purity, and there is no such thing as justice.
  22. All artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn to draw?
  23. A wall is a very big weapon. It’s one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with.
  24. There’s nothing more dangerous than someone who wants to make the world a better place.
  25. Sometimes I feel so sick about the state of the world that I can’t even finish my second apple pie.
  26. It’s a very frustrating feeling you get when the only people with good photos of you at work are the police department.
  27. The art world is the biggest joke going. It’s a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak.
  28. The human race is the most stupid and unfair kind of race. A lot of the runners don’t even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water.
  29. Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent, leaving the house before they find something worth staying in for.
  30. I don’t know why people are so keen to put the details of their private lives in the public eye; they forget that invisibility is a superpower.
  31. If you want to say something and have people listen, then you have to wear a mask. If you want to be honest, then you have to live a lie.
  32. Graffiti is not the lowest form of art. Despite having to creep about at night and lie to your mum, it’s actually the most honest art form available.
  33. I’d been painting rats for three years before someone said, “That’s clever. It’s an anagram of art,” and I had to pretend I’d known that all along.
  34. I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing, and a second time, a bit later, when somebody says your name for the last time.
  35. I like to think I have the guts to stand up anonymously in a western democracy and call for things no one else believes in – like peace and justice and freedom.
  36. The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people who break the rules but by people who follow them. It’s people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages.
  37. Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty, you can make someone smile while they’re having a p**s.
  38. If you have a statue in the city centre, you could go past it every day on your way to school and never even notice it, right? But as soon as someone puts a traffic cone on its head, you’ve made your own sculpture.
  39. You owe the companies nothing. You especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They have rearranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission; don’t even start asking for theirs.
  40. The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative, and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.
Phil Sutton

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