The best of artists hath no thought to show which the rough stone in its superfluous shell doth not include; to break the marble spell is all the hand that serves the brain can do.

Art is a shadow of Divine perfection.

Do not fret, for God did not create us to abandon us.

Let it be enough for you to have bread and live virtuously and poorly like Christ, as I do here. I live meanly and don't bother about life or honor ... and I live with the greatest toil and a thousand worries. It is now about 15 years since I had a happy hour.

I am a poor man and of little worth, who is laboring in that art that God has given me in order to extend my life as long as possible.

If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.

Perfection is no small thing, but it is made up of small things.