Just as courage is the danger of life, so is fear its safeguard.

The young man should first learn perspective, then the proportions of objects. Next, copy work after the hand of a good master, to gain the habit of drawing parts of the body well; and then to work from nature, to confirm the lessons learned.

Happy will they be who lend ear to the words of the dead.

Nothing is more apt to deceive us than our own judgment of our work. We derive more benefit from having our faults pointed out by our enemies than from hearing the opinions of friends.

The men of experiment are like the ant; they only collect and use. But the bee...gathers its materials from the flowers of the garden and of the field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own.

Poor is the man who desires a lot

I abhor the supreme folly of those who blame the disciples of nature in defiance of those masters who were themselves her pupils