If one wants to be active, one must not be afraid of going wrong, one must not be afraid of making mistakes now and then. Many people think that they will become good just by doing no harm -- but that's a lie.... That way lies stagnation, mediocrity.

It is only too true that a lot of artists are mentally ill - it's a life which, to put it mildly, makes one an outsider. I'm all right when I completely immerse myself in work, but I'll always remain half crazy.

One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul, and yet no one ever comes to sit by it.

I have a firm faith in art, a firm confidence in its being a powerful stream which carries a man to a harbor, though he himself must do his bit too.

My brushwork is quite unsystematic. I slam the paint on in all sorts of ways and leave each result to take care of itself.

Since visiting the abatoirs of S. France I have stopped eating meat.

But you people do not understand me, and I am afraid you never will.