Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol is one of my personal heroes. If I could go back in time and meet anyone, it might be him. I'd like to sit on the couch with him at a party at the Factory, watching the Velvet Underground play live, and gossiping about celebrities. Even though he knew all the famous people, he had a lot of non-famous friends too. I feel like he'd be friends with anyone that he found funny and interesting.

The following quotes are from his 1975 book, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again. If you've never read it, I highly recommend it.


I suppose I have a really loose definition of "work," because I think that just being alive is so much work at something you don't always want to do. Being born is like being kidnapped. And then sold into slavery. People are working every minute. The machinery is always going. Even when you sleep.

When I look around today, the biggest anachronism I see is pregnancy. I just can't believe that people are still pregnant.

One mistake I make time after time is not following the Golden Rule: I hold elevators. Also, even though I try to throw things away and simplify my life, I palm things off on other people.

Cash. I just am not happy when I don't have it. The minute I have it I have to spend it. And I just buy STUPID THINGS.

Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, "So what." That's one of my favorite things to say. "So what."
"My mother didn't love me." So what.
"My husband won't ball me." So what.
"I'm a success but I'm still alone." So what.
I don't know how I made it through all the years before I learned how to do that trick. It took a long time for me to learn it, but once you do, you never forget.