It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to standing upon the vantage ground of truth . . . and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below.

Always let losers have their words.

All authority must be out of a man's self, turned . . . either upon an art, or upon a man.

Death is a friend of ours; and he that is not ready to entertain him is not at home.

There is another ground of hope that must not be omitted. Let men but think over their infinite expenditure of understanding, time, and means on matters and pursuits of far less use and value; whereof, if but a small part were directed to sound and solid studies, there is no difficulty that might not be overcome.

It is nothing won to admit men with an open door, and to receive them with a shut and reserved countenance.

It's always hopeless to talk about painting - one never does anything but talk around it.