It is the artist who is truthful and it is photography which lies, for in reality time does not stop

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

Mystery is like a kind of atmosphere which bathes the greatest works of the masters.

If the artist only reproduces superficial features as photography does, if he copies the lineaments of a face exactly, without reference to character, he deserves no admiration. The resemblance which he ought to obtain is that of the soul.

I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don't need.

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

What is commonly called ugliness in nature can in art become full of beauty.