I'm really interested in social justice, and if an artist has a certain power of being heard and voicing something important, it's right to do it. It could still be done in such a way that it's not aggressive or overly didactic. I'm trying to find that form.
I just never want to do anything that's going to compromise what I do. It would have to be a song where there would be honest discussion about something.
For when it is the good that is under consideration, and the ethical object is predominant, truth must be considered more in reference to art than science, if, that is, unity is to be preserved in the work generally.
The idea that musicians/artists have a responsibility to be community leaders or "role models" is problematic to me because I really believe that some of the most exciting art is not community-minded at least in any obvious or direct way, which is not to say that it is not ethical or consciousness-changing.
Two qualities essential for the artist: moralityand perspective.
Art, unless it leads to right action, is no more than the opium of an intelligentsia.
I had rather, if cruelty has been prevented by the four prints [The Four Stages of Cruelty], be maker of them than of the [Raphael] cartoons.
When the cartoonist is trying to talk honestly and seriously about life, then I believe he has a responsibility to think beyond satisfying the market's every whim and desire.
The true artist doesn't substitute immorality for morality. On the contrary, he always substitutes a finer morality for a grosser one.
In a world that has ceased to believe in sin, the artist is responsible for the preaching.
I don't think you should ever damage other people for your art.
I've handled colour as a man should behave. You may conclude that I consider ethics and aesthetics as one.
