Damien Hirst (b. 1965)

"[Love] seems so difficult to sustain. Love is realistic; desire is unrealistic. It's easier to blindfold yourself, change your girlfriend every 6 months and not look in the mirror than to live with someone forever and see change. Although I'm tired of the word Love, it's like 'God'. Instead of saying 'I love you', I want to say, 'I'm delighted you're alive.'" (D. Hirst, quoted in exh. cat., New York, Gagosian Gallery, Damien Hirst: No Sense of Absolute Corruption, 1996, p.116-17).