But whenever I look at the question of how to live, the answer’s always staring me in the face. I’m already doing it.

Meaning of the quote

The quote is saying that Damien Hirst, a British artist, has found the answer to the question of how to live. He realizes that he is already living his life in a way that he finds meaningful, and he doesn't need to search for the answer because it's right in front of him. The quote suggests that sometimes the solution to life's big questions can be found in the way we are already living.

About Damien Hirst

Damien Hirst is a renowned British artist and art collector who rose to fame as part of the Young British Artists (YBAs) group in the 1990s. He is known for his conceptual artworks, particularly his use of preserved animals in formaldehyde. Hirst is reportedly the UK’s richest living artist, with a net worth estimated at $384 million in 2020.

More about the author

More quotes from Damien Hirst

It’d be nice to make lots of money but it’s quite difficult, because every time I make lots of money I make a bigger piece that costs lots of money.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

There’s no possible way you can get what you want.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

My Mum brought me up to believe that if you look after the pennies then the pounds look after themselves, and I could never do it.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

I made one untitled piece.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

I think an ashtray is the most fantastically real thing.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

The goal in life is to be solid, whereas the way that life works is totally fluid, so you can never actually achieve that goal.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

It’s such a crass idea – you’re either in love or out of love.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

Sometimes when you’re drunk you can see better.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

A lot of people thought I wasn’t doing anything because I was spending a lot of time socialising and going out, but I’ve always managed to get work actually done.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

It’s good to have a title that’s not just one word. If you’re gonna title it, you might as well try and say something.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

I think suicide is the most perfect thing you can do in life.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

Artists are like everybody else.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

I always feel like the art’s there and I just see it, so it’s not really a lot of work.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

But I’m more interested in why people are frightened by Jaws and why Jaws was such a hit than saying Spielberg’s my main influence.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

I always ignore money.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

But whenever I look at the question of how to live, the answer’s always staring me in the face. I’m already doing it.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

Most people live in the city and go to the country at the weekend, and that’s posh and aristocratic, but actually to live in the country and come to London when you can’t take it any more is different.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

So smoking is the perfect way to commit suicide without actually dying. I smoke because it’s bad, it’s really simple.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

Immortality is really desirable, I guess. In terms of images, anyway.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

But the answer to how to live is to stop thinking about it. And just to live. But you’re doing that anyway. However you intellectualise it, you still just live.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist

In an artwork you’re always looking for artistic decisions, so an ashtray is perfect. An ashtray has got life and death.

Damien Hirst

English sculptor and installation hampartist