Sayings
What he actually said — cited. What he didn't — quarantined below.
The internet attributes dozens of aphorisms to Picasso. Most have no source. This page keeps three separate shelves: verified (primary source cited), reported (repeated in reputable biographies, primary source not located), and commonly misattributed (do not quote as his).
Verified — with primary sources
“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand.”
Source: Interview with Marius de Zayas, published in The Arts (New York), May 1923. One of the very few extended statements Picasso gave about his art, and the source of the endlessly paraphrased “art is a lie” line — quoted here in his actual wording.
“To me there is no past or future in art. If a work of art cannot live always in the present it must not be considered at all.”
Source: Same interview with Marius de Zayas, The Arts, May 1923. The remark explains the late Picasso’s habit of repainting Velázquez and Manet: for him, the masters were contemporaries.
“She will.”
Source: Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933). After some ninety sittings for his 1905–06 portrait of her, friends said it didn’t resemble her. Picasso’s reply, as Stein tells it: everybody says she doesn’t look like it, but that doesn’t matter — “she will.” She did: the portrait’s mask-like face became how the world pictured Stein.
“No, you did.”
Source: Reported by multiple witnesses, Paris, during the Occupation. A German officer, shown a photograph of Guernica in Picasso’s studio, asked “Did you do that?” — and Picasso answered, “No, you did.” Reported speech, not a transcript; included because the witnesses are consistent and the retort is entirely in character.
Reported — widely repeated, primary source not located
“I do not seek, I find.” (Je ne cherche pas, je trouve.)
Source: Widely cited as Picasso’s motto from the 1920s; repeated across biographies. No primary publication has been located. Treat as reported, not verified — though it describes his working method accurately.
“When I was a child, my mother said to me: ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll be the pope.’ Instead I became a painter, and wound up as Picasso.”
Source: Repeated in many biographies and profiles; the original occasion is undocumented. Reported, not verified.
“It takes a long time to become young.”
Source: Attributed to Picasso’s later years and widely repeated; no primary source located. Reported, not verified.
“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.”
Source: Widely quoted in art writing; the original conversation or publication is undocumented. Reported, not verified.
“Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness.”
Source: Repeated in quotation collections; no primary source located. Reported, not verified.
Commonly misattributed — do not quote as his
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
Unverified; do not attribute. Enormously popular online, but no primary source has ever been produced. It may paraphrase something he believed — he certainly valued childlike directness — but there is no evidence these are his words.
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Unverified; do not attribute. A staple of motivational posters; no source in Picasso’s documented statements or interviews.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Unverified; do not attribute. No source connects this to Picasso; it appears to be a modern invention retrofitted to a famous name.
“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”
Unverified; do not attribute. Widely shared as a Picasso quote; no primary source located. (A similar sentiment exists in many artists’ mouths; none of them is documented as his.)
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
Unverified; do not attribute. A real sentiment he might have endorsed — but the wording has no documented source, and variants multiply with every repost.
“Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.”
Unverified; do not attribute. Frequently pinned on Picasso; no source exists, and the remark postdates the computer era’s relevance to his life.
“The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”
Unverified; do not attribute. No documented source; the phrasing is modern internet English, not the voice of his documented statements.
A note on method
Quotations live or die by provenance. A remark printed in a 1923 interview is evidence; a sentence on a thousand uncited web pages is rumor with good typography. When in doubt, this site labels rather than asserts — and the same rule governs the stories on Myth vs. Record.
Source notes
The de Zayas interview appeared in The Arts, New York, May 1923. Stein’s account is in The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (1933). Misattribution judgments follow the rule: no primary or reputable secondary source, no attribution. See Sources.