I didn't expect to recover from my second operation but since I did, I consider that I'm living on borrowed time. Every day that dawns is a gift to me and I take it in that way. I accept it gratefully without looking beyond it. I completely forget my physical suffering and all the unpleasantness of my present condition and I think only of the joy of seeing the sun rise once more and of being able to work a little bit, even under difficult conditions.

He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.

A young painter who cannot liberate himself from the influence of past generations is digging his own grave.

My curves are not crazy.

The energy within you is stronger than ever for being held back, compressed, and said No to.

The splitting up of color [as Impressionists did] brought the splitting up of form and contour . . . Everything is reduced to a mere sensation of the retina, but one which destroys all tranquility of surface and contour. Objects are differentiated only by the luminosity that is given them.

Creation is the artist's true function; where there is no creation there is no art.