The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies every thing placed in front of it without being conscious of their existence.

If you do not rest on the good foundation of nature, you will labour with little honor and less profit.

The good painter must paint two things: a person and the essence of his soul.

Nature alone is the master of true genius.

Necessity is the mistress and guide of nature.

When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come.

The worst evil which can befall the artist is that his work should appear good in his own eyes.