Life itself, too, is forever turning an infinitely vacant, dispiriting blank side towards man on which nothing appears, any more than it does on a blank canvas. But no matter how vacant and vain, how dead life may appear to be, the man of faith, of energy, of warmth, who knows something, will not be put off so easily.

Great things are not something accidental, but must certainly be willed.

And when I read, and really I do not read so much, only a few authors, - a few men that I discovered by accident - I do this because they look at things in a broader, milder and more affectionate way than I do, and because they know life better, so that I can learn from them.

If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things.

Let us keep courage and try to be patient and gentle. And let us not mind being eccentric, and make distinction between good and evil.

What color is in a picture, enthusiasm is in life.

Describing Starry Night: Firmament and planets both disappeared, but the mighty breath which gives life to all things and in which all is bound up remained.