Arbus Quotes

You see someone on the street, and essentially what you notice about them is the flaw. - Diane Arbus

When you grow up your mother says, 'Wear rubbers or you'll catch cold.' When you become an adult you discover that you have the right not to wear rubbers and to see if you catch cold or not. It's something like that. - Diane Arbus

What moves me about...what's called technique...is that it comes from some mysterious deep place. I mean it can have something to do with the paper and the developer and all that stuff, but it comes mostly from some very deep choices somebody has made that take a long time and keep haunting them. - Diane Arbus

Two armies that fight each other is like one large army that commits suicide. - H. Barbusse

They are the proof of something was there and no longer is. Like a stain. And the stillness of them is boggling. You can turn away but when you come back they'll still be there looking at you. - Diane Arbus

These are characters in a fairy tale for grown-ups. Wouldn't it be lovely? Yes. - Diane Arbus

There's a quality of legend about freaks. Like a person in a fairy tale who stops you and demands that you answer a riddle. - Diane Arbus

There are an awful lot of people in the world and it's going to be terribly hard to photograph all of them... It was my teacher Lisette Model who finally made it clear to me that the more specific you are, the more general it will be. - Diane Arbus

The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is the cutting edge of the mind. - Diane Arbus

The thing that's important to know is that you never know. You're always sort of feeling your way. - Diane Arbus