No man with a conscience can just bat out illustrations. He's got to put all his talent and feeling into them!

When I go to farms or little towns, I am always surprised at the discontent I find. And New York, too often, has looked across the sea toward Europe. And all of us who turn our eyes away from what we have are missing life.

Some folks think I painted Lincoln from life, but I haven't been around that long. Not quite.

Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. My fundamental purpose is to interpret the typical American. I am a story teller.

I didn't know what to expect from a famous movie star; maybe that he'd be sort of stuck-up, you know. But not Gary Cooper. He horsed around so much... that I had a hard time painting him.

The story is the first thing and the last thing.

I'm tired, but proud.