Great Throughts Treasury

"In vain we fondly strive to trace the soul’s reflection in the face."

"Virtue is to her self the best reward."

"Discipline in art is a fundamental struggle to understand oneself, as much as to understand what one is drawing. "

"The creative habit is like a drug. The particular obsession changes, but the excitement, the thrill of your creation lasts. "

"The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do. "

"To know one thing, you must know the opposite. "

"Art is a continuous activity with no separation between past and present."

"There is nothing greater than enthusiasm."

"All art should have a certain mystery and should make demands on the spectator. Giving a sculpture or a drawing too explicit a title takes away part of that mystery so that the spectator moves on to the next object, making no effort to ponder the meaning of what he has just seen. Everyone thinks that he or she looks but they don't really, you know."

"There are universal shapes to which everyone is subconsciously conditioned and to which they can respond if their conscious control does not shut them off."

"I think, what has this day brought me, and what have I given it?"