Ruthless, greedy, tyrannical, disreputable... they have had one principle worth all the rest, the principle of delight!

Great works of art can be produced in barbarous societies - in fact the very narrowness of primitive society gives their ornamental art a peculiar concentration and vitality. At some time in the ninth century one could have looked down the Seine and seen the prow of a Viking ship coming up the river. Looked at today in the British Museum, it is a powerful work of art; but to the mother of a family trying to settle down in her little hut, it would have seemed less agreeable - as menacing to her civilisation as the periscope of a nuclear submarine.

Few people can look at a painting longer than it takes to peel an orange and eat it.

I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid hurting other people's feelings by satisfying our own egos.

I believe in the God-given genius of certain individuals, and I value a society that makes their existence possible.

It is often said that Leonardo drew so well because he knew about things; it is truer to say that he knew about things because he drew so well.

Lives devoted to Beauty seldom end well.