“I don't need the money, dear. I work for art.” Maria Callas

We’re all anxious about money these days. Those of us in the arts have the small consolation that we were anxious about money before it became fashionable. I think artists have a special relationship to money. It’s easy to lose sight of what we’re really earning it for, so here are some creative voices on the subject of money.

Robert Hughes said:

On the whole, money does artists much more good than harm. The idea that one benefits from cold water, crusts and debt collectors is now almost extinct, like belief in the reformatory power of flogging.

Sigmund Freud said:

The artist gives up power, money, and the love of beautiful women for his art, through which he hopes to win power, money, and the love of beautiful women.

Or, as Walt Disney said:

We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.

Julia Cameron said:

Money is really a codified form of power. Often we think we need X amount of money to attain Y space, but what we really need is the space itself. Intention creates power, often as money, sometimes as access. Art triggers abundance, but it triggers it in diverse forms. Our cash flow may not immediately increase, but our opportunity flow will increase.

Steven Sondheim said:

All I ever really wanted was to make enough money from the theatre to be able to write for the theatre.

Phillip K. Dick said:

The only thing separating me from the Lysol Lady, who is crazy, is the money in my savings account. Money is the official seal of sanity.

Tibor Kalman said:

Making money was the biggest waste of time.

Which may be related to why Sandra Boynton said:

To me, the commodity that we consistently overvalue is money, and what we undervalue is our precious and irreplaceable time. Though, of course, to the extent that money can save you time or make it easier to accomplish things, it’s a wonderful thing.

Margaret Bonnano said:

Being rich is having money; being wealthy is having time.

And finally, James Baldwin said:

Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex, you thought of nothing else if you didn't have it and thought of other things if you did.