I always thought that inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.

Neurologically, I'm a quadriplegic, so virtually everything about my work has been driven by my learning disabilities, which are quite severe, and my lack of facial recognition, which I'm sure is what drove me to paint portraits in the first place.

There are so many artists that are dyslexic or learning disabled, it's just phenomenal. There's also an unbelievably high proportion of artists who are left-handed, and a high correlation between left-handedness and learning disabilities.

I wanted to translate from one flat surface to another. In fact, my learning disabilities controlled a lot of things. I don't recognize faces, so I'm sure it's what drove me to portraits in the first place.

I get most of my inspiration from older records. Most of the records that I listen to were probably made before I was born, and I was born in the mid-'70s. I don't know why, exactly, I'm drawn to those sounds.

From my earliest youth, I have known that while one is obliged to plan with care the stages of one's journey, one is entitled to dream, and keep dreaming, of its destination. A man may feel as old as his years yet as young as his dreams.

After the failure in '92, my goal was to be a good pole vaulter. I used that as motivation.

I'm the ultimate beauty junkie - that inspiration, obsession, and addiction is one of the main reasons I founded Pat McGrath Labs in 2015. So, when fellow beauty junkies spot me, there's nothing I enjoy more than discovering what they're addicted to. It's so inspiring!