I am convinced that any attempt to restore harmony in the world can only rest on the renewal of personal responsibility.

It is obvious that art cannot teach anyone anything, since in four thousand years humanity has learnt nothing at all.

Being silent for a while is good. Words can't really express a person's emotions.

If there are some who talk the same language as myself, then why should I neglect their interests for the sake of some other group of people who are alien and remote? They have their own 'gods and idols' and we have nothing in common. ... If you try to please audiences, uncritically accepting their tastes, it can only mean that you have no respect for them: that you simply want to collect their money.

The only condition of fighting for the right to create is faith in your own vocation, readiness to serve, and refusal to compromise.

We know perfectly well that neither love nor peace of mind can be bought with any currency.

When less than everything has been said about a subject, you can still think on further. The alternative is for the audience to be presented with a final deduction (...) no effort on their part. What can it mean to them when they have not shared with the author the misery and joy of bringing an image into being?