1.
I seize all opportunities with two hands. Everything that's happened to me has taught me to live in the moment as much as possible.
Sam Taylor-Wood
2.
I wanted to become an artist because it meant endless possibilities. Art was a way of reinventing myself.
Sam Taylor-Wood
3.
I often joke that I straddle psychosis and neurosis, and that being an artist keeps me in the middle, so I can work between the two.
Sam Taylor-Wood
4.
I love karaoke. I love maudlin country ballads. In another life I'd be Loretta Lynn.
Sam Taylor-Wood
5.
I find that I put my body in my work when I am at a particularly difficult or joyous point because I want to feel that moment.
Sam Taylor-Wood
6.
I feel the art world in New York has a stronger following than Britain. If you go to a New York art district on a Saturday morning, it will be so busy with families and openings - art is much more ingrained in the culture.
Sam Taylor-Wood
7.
In my life, I've never really listened to when people start forming opinions on how you should be doing things.
Sam Taylor-Wood
8.
People in love don't see gender, colour or religion. Or age. It's about the other person, the one that you love and who loves you. You don't think of them in terms of a label. You just go with your heart.
Sam Taylor-Wood
9.
I never thought of having cancer as something that was unfair. I just braced myself and tried to get through it.
Sam Taylor-Wood
10.
I've made lots of big decisions in my life that have shocked people.
Sam Taylor-Wood
11.
Sometimes when you're looking at your own work, you can't really see, and it's only when you step back a little bit later that you think, "Oh, that's completely in line with everything else I've done".
Sam Taylor-Wood
12.
I've always lived my life fearlessly, and what I want to do with my life, I do.
Sam Taylor-Wood
13.
I took on cancer like I take on everything - like a mission and a job to accomplish.
Sam Taylor-Wood
14.
Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the greatest actors of our age; he's like Olivier. He's one of those people who can take you into a place where no one else can take you.
Sam Taylor-Wood
15.
Sorry, there's nothing like a screaming baby to make a mother twitch.
Sam Taylor-Wood
16.
I think you only see experiences as defining moments with distance.
Sam Taylor-Wood
17.
I feel like I've lost 10 years of my life to cancer.
Sam Taylor-Wood
18.
My favorite part of the whole filmmaking process is working with a fantastic cinematographer, a fantastic actor or actors, and then just creating emotions and stories. I get so excited by that. That's the part I'm utterly addicted to.
Sam Taylor-Wood
19.
I like Alexander McQueen's work a lot: he's always pushing boundaries, and he's rough around the edges.
Sam Taylor-Wood
20.
After I left college, I went to work at the Royal Opera House in London, which became a real catalyst for me because it made me realize that I was interested in cinema and in the way life is thrust at you. So I started making films.
Sam Taylor-Wood
21.
Having children is exciting. Life puts the past into perspective.
Sam Taylor-Wood
22.
I love life. I think it's fantastic. Sometimes it deals hard things, and when it deals great things, you have to seize them.
Sam Taylor-Wood
23.
One of the few times I saw my mother cry was when Lennon died, and the other time was when Elvis died.
Sam Taylor-Wood
24.
I have a massive phobia for schedules and calendars. I need people to tell me where I need to be. I can't bear to see it in black and white. I think it's a fear of being pinned down.
Sam Taylor-Wood
25.
I think people are frightened of women making big decisions.
Sam Taylor-Wood
26.
My childhood had its challenges, like everyone's. It imbued me with certain things and took away others. It made me very determined.
Sam Taylor-Wood
27.
I felt giving birth was the most creative act of all my creative acts - literally creation!
Sam Taylor-Wood
28.
I'd love to have more children. If I'm still clear after five years, I'll think again.
Sam Taylor-Wood
29.
I remember as a kid not ever wanting to have friends around to my house because it was, for want of a better description, disheveled.
Sam Taylor-Wood
30.
Relationships can go wrong very simply, very quickly, and when you have children you become more aware of relationships around you.
Sam Taylor-Wood
31.
I hate rats. I had a pet rat to try and overcome it. I even gave him mouth-to mouth resuscitation when he had a heart attack. But I couldn't conquer it.
Sam Taylor-Wood