The work of art is already within the block of marble. I just chop off whatever isn't needed.

The more simple we are, the more complete we become.

The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live. Be a man before being an artist!

There are unknown forces in nature; when we give ourselves wholly to her, without reserve, she lends them to us; she shows us these forms, which our watching eyes do not see, which our intelligence does not understand or suspect.

To the artist there is never anything ugly in nature

The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.

I believe that photography can create great works of art, but hitherto it has been extraordinarily bourgeois and babbling. (1908)