The Renaissance had resulted in the emancipation of the individual, in making him feel that the universe had no other purpose than his happiness. This brought an entirely new answer to the question, 'Why should I do this or that?' It used to be, 'Because self-instituted authority command you.' The answer now was, 'Because it is good for men.' In this lies our greatest debt to the Renaissance, that it instituted the welfare of men as the end of all action.

I wonder whether art has a higher function than to make me feel, appreciate, and enjoy natural objects for their art value?

The average European does not seem to feel free until he succeeds in enslaving and oppressing others.

Genius is the capacity for productive reaction against one's training.

It was a morning in early summer. A silver haze shimmered and trembled over the lime trees. The air was laden with their fragrance. The temperature was like a caress. I remember - I need not recall - that I climbed up a tree stump and felt suddenly immersed in Itness. I did not call it by that name. I had no need for words. It and I were one.

When everything else physical and mental seems to diminish, the appreciation of beauty is on the increase.

I would willingly stand at street corners, hat in hand, begging passerby to drop their unused minutes into it.