The important thing is somehow to begin.

A work can have in it a pent-up energy, an intense life of its own, independent of the subject it may represent.

To be an artist is to believe in life.

I find in all the artists that I admire most a disturbing element, a distortion, giving evidence of a struggle . . . . In great art, this conflict is hidden, it is unresolved. All that is bursting with energy is disturbing - not perfect.

The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do.

The creative habit is like a drug. The particular obsession changes, but the excitement, the thrill of your creation lasts.

There is nothing greater than enthusiasm.