“The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.”

“To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist.”

“The counterfeit and counterpart of Nature is reproduced in art.”

“Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; it is the part the schools cannot recognize.”

“Pictures deface walls more often than they decorate them.”

“The precision of naming takes away from the uniqueness of seeing.”

“Art is the objectification of feeling.”

“What I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house.”

“Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression.”

“The man who never in his mind and thoughts travel’d to heaven is no artist.”

“The defining function of the artist is to cherish consciousness.”

“The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure.”

“To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all.”

“But I’m not an artist. Maybe an artist with a small a.”

“You know, if one paints someone’s portrait, one should not know him if possible.”