The love of gain never made a painter; but it has marred many.
Fame has no necessary conjunction with praise; it may exist without the breath of a word: it is a recognition of excellence which must be felt, but need not be spoken. Even the envious must feel it: feel it, and hate in silence.
Distinction is the consequence, never the object of a great mind.
Never judge a work of art by its defects.
The only competition worthy of a wise man is with himself.
Desert being the essential condition of praise, there can be no reality in the one without the other.