Art is not the application of a canon of beauty but what the instinct and the brain can conceive beyond any canon. When we love a woman, we don't start measuring her limbs. Pablo Picasso, Picasso on Art: A Selection of Views

Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories. Walter Benjamin, German Jewish philosopher

Vintage books, old china, antiques; maybe I love old things so much because I feel impermanent myself. Josh Lanyon, Romance author

Priceless things matter not for their value, but because they offer us an enduring reminder of stability and permanence. Barbara Taylor Bradford, Power of a Woman

The brilliance of art as a collectible is that it has a way of reaching out on an emotional level. It touches on mystery, even spirituality. Robert Genn, Canadian artist

The principles of true art is not to portray, but to evoke. Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-American novelist

I have always wished I could learn to be a potter. I love collecting ceramics; it would be so fulfilling to create something lovely. Julie Andrews

It is easily overlooked that what is now called vintage was once brand new. Tony Visconti, American record producer, musician and singer

In youth, love and art. In age, investments and antiques. Mason Cooley, American aphorist

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk