The crucial discovery was made that, in order to become painting, the universe seen by the artist had to become a private one created by himself.

The terrible thing about death is that it transforms life into destiny.

In art, we are the first heirs of all the earth. . . . Accidents impair and Time transforms, but it is we who choose.

I don't argue with my enemies; I explain to their children.

In the course of history, all empires have been created with premeditation, by an effort often sustained over several generations. Every power has been Roman to a degree. The United States is the first nation to become the most powerful in the world without having sought to be so. Its exceptional energy and organization have never been oriented toward conquest.

Man knows that the world is not made on a human scale; and he wishes that it were.

To love a painting is to feel that this presence is ... not an object but a voice.