I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly, the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence, feeling unspeakably tired. Tongues of fire and blood stretched over the bluish black fjord. My friends went on walking, while I lagged behind, shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous infinite scream of nature.

The way one sees is also dependent upon one's emotional state of mind. This is why a motif can be looked at in so many ways, and this is what makes art so interesting.

Disease, insanity, and death were the angels that attended my cradle, and since then have followed me throughout my life.

The notes I have made are not a diary in the ordinary sense, but partly lengthy records of my spiritual experiences, and partly poems in prose.

My breakthrough came very late in life, really only starting when I was 50...I had the strength for new deeds and ideas.

In common with Michelangelo and Rembrandt I am more interested in the line, its rise and fall, than in color

Youth must go ahead and prosper. These young painters are all very talented people, but they all paint frescoes.