Larry Harvey

“Burning Man is a society that is created and then is taken down and taken away... It's the opposite of a monument.”

“Burning Man is not a festival. It's a city.”

“We are not a consumer culture. We are a culture of creators.”

“Radical self-expression is not about the freedom to do anything you want. It's about expressing who you are.”

“The point of the thing is not the thing. The point is the experience of making the thing.”

“Gifting is not a barter system. It's about the act of giving without expecting anything in return.”

“We are trying to create a culture that is based on experience, not on commodity.”

“Here, we're not consumers. We are participants. We make the city.”

“The Ten Principles are not commandments. They are suggestions.”

“Civic responsibility is not a spectator sport.”

“Our intention is to generate a society that connects each individual to his or her creative powers.”

“It’s an environment that is constantly being remade by the people who are in it.”

“Decommodification is about creating a space where you are not being sold to.”

“The playa is a blank canvas. And on that canvas, we paint our dreams.”

“It's a gift economy. That's the engine of the city.”

“We don't have a leisure problem in our culture; we have a work problem.”