10 Banksy Quotes from “CUT IT OUT” Book

Banksy’s third book, “CUT IT OUT,” published in 2004 by Weapons of Mass Distraction, is a compact and stylish black book that fits easily in your pocket. Upon opening the book, readers are greeted with a colourful collection of stencil art, vandalism, quotes, and commentary, including‘an exhibition’of his work at the Tate Gallery in London.

The pocket-size book includes some of Banksy’s most insightful and inspiring quotes, with topics ranging from politics and capitalism to art and society. In this editorial, we have selected ten of his most notable quotes from the book mixed with some of Banksy’s murals from the last two decades that will inspire you.

1

“It’s going to take one very special lady, or a whole load of average ones, to get over you.”

2

“Oh my god, that’s so cute the way you just draw on stuff and think about yourself all the time.”

3

“When graffiti first started it was about getting noticed. But with inflation ‘getting noticed’ is worth almost nothing these days. Now you have to be a genuine nuisance if you want to get along.”

4

“Some mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves.”

6

“People who enjoy waving flags don’t deserve to have one.”

7

“My sister threw away loads of my drawings when I was a kid and when I asked her where they were she shrugged and said ‘Well it’s not like they’re ever gonna be hanging in the Louvre, is it?”

8

“I’d been painting rats for three years before someone said ‘that’s a clever anagram of art’ and I had to pretend I’d known that all along”

9

“People are taking the piss out of you every day. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you. You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity. Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head. You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs”.

10

‘Bloodthirsty people should bite their tongues”

“Cut It Out”

Title: CUT IT OUT – used to tell someone to stop talking or stop behaving in an annoying way –Cambridge Dictionary.

Dimensions: 148 x 105mm

Medium: Collectible paperback book authored by Banksy, 74 colour pages.

Pagination: 72pp (Plural pages) & 4ppc (Printed Paper Case)

Published: By Weapons Of Mass Distraction in 2004.

Provenance: Artist-plated signature on front cover.

Editions (x2): Two editions. The first edition was published in 2004, and the second edition was printed in 2007 by EPM.

“Cut It Out” by Banksy – Image copyright EPM

Official Banksy Books

Five official Banksy books have been released to date. Banksy released three pocket-sized paper books titled “Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall” book (2001), “Existstencilism” book (2002) and “CUT IT OUT” book (2004). Then, “Wall and Piece” (2005), which contains a lot of information from the previous books, and his most recent book that went with his Glasgow exhibition of the same name “, Cut And Run” (2023).

All image copyright Banksy

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