There's lots of fun in this world, after all. And if there isn't, there is in the next. And we're going there, sure.

What is nobler than a man wresting and wringing his bread from the stubborn soil by the sweat of his brow and the break of his back for his wife and children!

Inspiration is nothing without work.

The artist is an interpreter of Nature. People learn to love Nature through pictures. To the artist, nothing is in vain; nothing beneath his notice. If he is great enough, he will exalt every subject which he treats.

It gives a fellow an awful shiver to hear the first shovelful of dirt and gravel rattle down upon the coffin; but after it is covered, it falls gently and makes no sound. The feeling of rest is perfect. There's no more nagging, no more pain!

You can always draw as well as you know how to. I flatter myself that I feel more than I express on canvas; but I know that is not so.

It's impossible to make a picture without values. Values are the basis. If they are not, tell me what is the basis.