- Self - Nan's Mother: Droll thing life is -- that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself -- that comes too late -- a crop of inextinguishable regrets. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
- Self - Artist and Founder of P.A.I.N.: My father and mother were not equipped to be parents. They had children because it was expected, more than it was about nurturing other human beings.
- Nan Goldin: My roommates, they were running away from America and they found each other. They didn't think, "We're pioneers, we're rebels," they just were. It was about living out what they needed to live out.
- Nan Goldin: People used to say we were marginalized, and we didn't care. Normal people were marginalized to us.