“I'm an aesthetic empiricist. If you like something, it doesn't matter ...” — Arthur Phillips Quote

“I'm an aesthetic empiricist. If you like something, it doesn't matter who made it. There really is no objective standard other than your own taste. You develop your own tastes, you find things that do or do not fit your tastes, and therefore are or are not 'good.' Whether they have been labeled as produced by the right person is another matter.”

“It would be hard to exaggerate Ernest Hemingway's influence over American literature, but his influence on our lives is probably larger still.”

“I think the kind of person I am, and the kind of upbringing I have had, I have my mother's aesthetic. So my choice of films will largely reflect that.”

“Any system that sees aesthetics as irrelevant, that separates the artist from his product, that fragments the work of the individual, or creates by committee, or makes mincemeat of the creative process will, in the long run, diminish not only the product but the maker as well.”

“Many of the elements associated with storybook mythology and gothic aesthetics are actually not expressive.”