Quotes by Nick Cave

Memory is imagined; it is not real. Dont be ashamed of its need to create; it is the loveliest part of your heart. Myth is the true history. Dont let them tell you that there are no monsters. Dont let them make you feel stupid, just because you are happy to play down in the dark with your flashlight. The mystical world depends on you and your tolerance for the absurd. Be strong, my darling ones, and believe!

But if youre gonna dine with them cannibalsSooner or later, darling, youre gonna get eaten . . .

Im not religious, and Im not a Christian, but I do reserve the right to believe in the possibility of a God. Its kind of defending the indefensible, though; Im critical of what religions are becoming, the more destructive theyre becoming. But I think as an artist, particularly, its a necessary part of what I do, that there is some divine element going on within my songs.

Then he smiles because he knows deep in his bones that his dad has gone and said something really funny probably. He kicks off his sheet and slides his feet into his slippers. Bunny sits in the living room, slumped low on the sofa, full of Geoffreys Scotch and Poodles cocaine.

Listen, ah dont wanna speak ill of the dead but have ah told you that mah mother was a great whopping whale of a cunt? Well she was precisely that - a great whopping whale of a hogs cunt with a dirty maggot for a brain.

This is how it essentially is for Bunny Junior. He loves his dad. He thinks there is no dad better, cleverer, or more capable, and he stands there beside him with a sense of pride — hes my dad — and he also, of course, stands beside him because he has nowhere else to go.

If you look around, complacency is the great disease of your autumn years, and I work hard to prevent that.

My father was a teacher and my mother also worked in the school, so the family has a background in education.

No, I wouldnt direct a movie, no. I couldnt. I dont have the patience for it, I dont have the people skills. You have to be clever. Im not really clever in that kind of way. And you have to be able to manipulate people, but at the same time allow them to feel like they are manipulating you, to get the kind of movie that you want.

Getting married, for me, was the best thing I ever did. I was suddenly beset with an immense sense of release, that we have something more important than our separate selves, and that is the marriage. Theres immense happiness that can come from working towards that.

Im hugely self-critical in the morning.

The concept of God in America is very different than it is in England. Because we see the horrendous outcome of religion as being an American thing, in which the name of God has been hijacked by a gang of psychopaths and bullies and homophobes, and the name of God has been used for their own twisted agendas.

Im not saying this in a condescending kind of way, but its quite simple: The making of America was a heroic thing. Australia has a much murkier, much more complex view of its history. Its just full of all these open wounds we dont really know what to do with.

The last thing I ever wanted to get involved with is Hollywood. The way it works is that people get an idea you could possibly do something, but theres a one-in-a-hundred chance that it could get made.

I dont think Hollywood makes many good films anymore. How many directors can you really trust to have an artistic vision, not a corporate vision or a watered-down communal one?

You cant trust an artist that just makes good records.

I have an armchair interest in gardening, but I dont like to get my knees dirty. I dont have a garden.

Ive spent my life butting my head against other peoples lack of imagination.

I love being manipulated by what I see. I love weepies and romantic comedies where youre reaching for the Kleenex at the right moment.

Moving to the country is a very bold thing to do. You can have vague romantic notions about doing that, but in actuality, it can be a terrifying thing.