The tattoo attracts and also repels precisely because it is different. – Margo DeMello, Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Co

Inking without a plan gives Booth freedom to explore the desires of those seated in his chair, he says, to feed off their energy, allowing his clients’ demons to help guide the needle. – Joshua Lipton, about tattoo artist Paul Booth, “Bad Skin,” Rolling Stone, 2002 M

We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible. – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast Table, 1872