Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented.
—Willem de Kooning, 1949Quotes
The body says what words cannot.
—Martha Graham, 1985Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing one’s arms around a side of beef.
—Tom Stoppard, 1993There is only one antidote to mental suffering and that is physical pain.
—Karl Marx, 1860I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.
—Elizabeth I, 1588I’m at an age when my back goes out more than I do.
—Phyllis Diller, 1981It hurts to watch the fluency of a body acclimated to its shackling.
—Leslie Jamison, 2014Every tooth in a man’s head is more valuable than a diamond.
—Miguel de Cervantes, 1605To lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in oneself.
—Simone de Beauvoir, 1949The body is an instrument which only gives off music when it is used as a body.
—Anaïs Nin, 1935Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.
—Kate Moss, 2009And your very flesh shall be a great poem.
—Walt Whitman, 1855All God’s children are not beautiful. Most of God’s children are, in fact, barely presentable.
—Fran Lebowitz, 1978