He that seeks popularity in art closes the door on his own genius: as he must needs paint for other minds, and not for his own.

Social opinion is like a sharp knife. There are foolish people who regard it only with terror, and dare not touch or meddle with it. There are more foolish people, who, in rashness or defiance, seize it by the blade, and get cut and mangled for their pains. And there are wise people, who grasp it discreetly and boldly by the handle, and use it to carve out their own purposes.

We can sometimes love what we do not understand, but it is impossible completely to understand what we do not love.

Avarice is to the intellect what sensuality is to the morals.

A cunning mind emphatically delights in its own cunning, and is the ready prey of cunning.

Occupation was one of the pleasures of paradise, and we cannot be happy without it.

You must never believe what the newspapers say. I stand aghast at the impudence of the lies they contain, things not only false in fact, but absolutely impossible.