It was at home I learned the little I know. Schools always appeared to me like a prison, and never could I make up my mind to stay there, not even for four hours a day, when the sunshine was inviting, the sea smooth, and when it was joy to run about the cliffs in the free air, or to paddle in the water.

I work at my garden all the time and with love. What I need most are flowers, always. My heart is forever in Giverny.

My life has been nothing but a failure.

I would like to paint the way a bird sings.

Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.

The Thames was all gold. God it was beautiful, so fine that I began working a frenzy, following the sun and its reflections on the water.

It took me time to understand my water lilies. I had planted them for the pleasure of it; I grew them without ever thinking of painting them.