Still, there is a calm, pure harmony, and music inside of me.

I assure you that there's a lot involved in compositions with figures. ... It's like weaving... you must control and keep an eye on several things at once.

Painting is a faith, and it imposes the duty to disregard public opinion.

Do not become the slave of your model.

An artist need not be a minister or a collector in church, but he must have a warm heart for people, and I find it a noble thing that, for example, no winter passed without The Graphic doing something to keep alive sympathy for the poor.

If boyhood and youth are but vanity, must it not be our ambition to become men?

Painting is a faith and that it brings with it the duty to pay no heed to public opinion - and that in it one conquers by perseverance and not by giving in.