There is no thrill of mortal danger to surpass that of a lone man trying to create something that never existed before.

After all, the world is still great.

An artist would not rise above the mediocrity if he condemns it.

When I have trouble writing, I step outside my studio into the garden and pull weeds until my mind clears--I find weeding to be the best therapy there is for writer's block.

From the biography of Freud, by Irving Stone, said by Freud's fiance after he teased her for being sweet, "Beware of truly sweet people. They have will of iron.

To try to understand another human being, to grapple for his ultimate depths, that is the most dangerous of human endeavors.

Man's spirit grows hungry for art in the same way his stomach growls for food.

Do not call yourself old. A man is as old as the creative force within him.

From out of pain, beauty.

To be an artist is first to be a manual laborer.

There's no love without pain.

The most perfect guide is nature. Continue without fail to draw something every day.

What we know of others is our personal secret.

It's freezing up here. What did you use to keep warm?" "Indignation," said Michelangelo. "Best fuel I know. Never burns out.

It's so easy to love. The only hard thing is to be loved. [Vincent Van Gogh]

Being mad is even pleasant. But only a madman understands that.

He had always loved God. In his darkest hours he cried out, "God did not create us to abandon us.

One should not become an artist because he can, but because he must. It is only for those who would be miserable without it.

You cannot be firmly certain about anything. You can only have enough courage and strength to do what you consider to be right. Maybe it turns out that was wrong, but still you would have done his, and it is most important.