"(...) contemporary art has become a kind of alternative religion for atheists. (...) For many art world insiders and art aficionados of other kinds, concept-driven art is a kind of existencial channel through which they bring meaning to their lives. It demands leaps of faith, but it rewards the believer with a sense of consequence. Moreover, just as churches and other ritualistic meeting places serve a social function, so art events generate a sense of community around shared interests"

- Sarah Thornton

Source: Thornton, Sarah. Seven Days in the Art World. 2008. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-393-06722-4. pp. xiv.

"If I hit that tree with this stone, Rousseau says to himself, then all will go well with my life from now on. He throws the stone and misses. That one didn't count, he says, and so he picks up another stone and moves several yards closer to the tree. He misses again. . . . That was just the final warm-up toss, he says, it's the next one that really counts. But just to make sure, he walks right up to the tree this time, positioning himself directly in front of the target. He is no more than a foot away from it by now, close enough to touch it with his hand. Then he lobs the stone squarely against the trunk. Success, he says to himself, I've done it. From this moment on, life will be better for me than ever before."

- Paul Auster "The Music of Chance"

Source: Paul Auster. The Music of Chance. Quoted in: Maddison Smartt Bell. 1990. Poker and Nothingness. New York: The New York Times. Available from URL http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/06/20/specials/auster-music.html

Her er passasjersvøpet, skralt og tynt;
- har dog i smaken en snev av Peer Gynt.
Innenfor her har vi gullgraver-jeget;
saften er vekk - om det noen har eiet.
Her er oldtidsgranskeren, kort, men kraftig.
Og her er profeten, fersk og saftig.
Han stinker, som skrevet står, av løgne,
så en ærlig mann kan få vann i øyne.
Det neste tykkes mykt. Det har svarte streger;
- svart kan ligne både prest og neger.
Det var en ustyrtelig mengde lag!
Kommer ikke kjernen snart for en dag?
Nei - Gud om den gjør! Til det innerste indre
er altsammen lag - bare mindre og mindre.
- Henrik Ibsen: Peer Gynt