Nature is a collective idea, and, though its essence exist in each individual of the species, can never in its perfection inhabit a single object.

When we idealize the real, we sacrifice to artistic fancy.

Indiscriminate pursuit of perfection infallibly leads to mediocrity.

Emulation embalms the dead; envy, the vampire, blasts the living.

Expression alone can invest beauty with supreme and lasting command over the eye.

Heaven and earth, advantages and obstacles, conspire to educate genius.

Nature is a collective idea, and, though its essence exist in each individual of the species, can never in its perfection inhabit a single object.