We must always take from nature what we paint and always choose the most beautiful things.

Painting contains a divine force which not only makes absent men present, as friendship is said to do, but moreover makes the dead seem almost alive.

... the movements of the body reveal the movements of the soul.

It is very rarely granted even to Nature herself to produce anything absolutely perfect in every part.

A man can do all things if he will.

No art, however minor, demands less than total dedication if you want to excel in it.

What is painting but the act of embracing, by means of art, the surface of the pool?