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  

The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. Michelangelo

An antique is anything old with class. John Bartlett,  American writer and publisher

Art collecting has traditionally been the domain of wealthy individuals in search of rewards beyond the purely financial. James Surowiecki, American journalist

Great art collecting need not be based on a great fortune. Education, experience and eye are more important. Eugene V. Thaw, American art dealer and collector

Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends. H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Style is about fun. True style is not about having a closet full of expensive and beautiful things - it is instead about knowing when, where, and how to utilize your collection. Nina Garcia, creative director of Elle

I was always fascinated, even as a child, by antiques and ancient times. I always felt I should have been born in the 17th or 18th century. They really had a big stone castle with authentic furniture. Margaret O'Brien, American film actress

The habit of collecting, of attachment to things, is an essential human trait. But Western civilization put collecting on a pedestal by inventing museums. Museums are about representing power. It could be the king's power or, later, people's power. Orhan Pamuk, Turkish novelist and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature