I will seize fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me.

There is no loftier mission than to approach the Divinity nearer than other men, and to disseminate the divine rays among mankind.

In the world of art, as in the whole of creation, freedom and progress are the main objectives.

An artist is someone who has learned to trust in himself.

Handel is the greatest composer that ever lived... I would uncover my head and kneel down on his tomb.

There ought to be only one large art warehouse in the world, to which the artist could carry his art-works and from which he could carry away whatever he needed. As it is one must be half a tradesman.

Yet it was impossible for me to say to people, 'Speak louder, shout, for I am deaf.' Ah, how could I possibly admit an infirmity in the one sense which ought to be more perfect in me than others, a sense which I once possessed in the highest perfection, a perfection such as few in my profession enjoy or ever have enjoyed.