“Let not a man do what his sense of right bids him not to do, nor desire what it forbids him to desire. This is sufficient. The skillful artist will not alter his measures for the sake of a stupid workman.”

Benevolence is one of the distinguishing characters of man.

Is it only the mouth and belly which are injured by hunger and thirst? Men’s minds are also injured by them.

Never lose your child’s heart.

The ways are two: love and want of love. That is all.

All things are already complete in us. There is no greater delight than to be conscious of right within us. If one strives to treat others as he would be treated by them, he shall not fail to come near the perfect life.

Those who follow the part of themselves which is great are great men; those who follow the part which is little are little men.

Friends are the siblings God never gave us.

Only those who develop their minds and spirits to the utmost can serve Heaven and fulfill their own destinies.

To act without clear understanding, to form habits without investigation, to follow a path all one’s life without knowing where it really leads; such is the behavior of the multitude.

Heaven sees as the people see. Heaven hears as the people hear.

He who goes to the bottom of his own heart knows his own nature; And knowing his own nature, he knows heaven.

Evil exists to glorify the good. Evil is negative good. It is a relative term. Evil can be transmuted into good. What is evil to one at one time, becomes good at another time to somebody else.

Human nature is good, just as water seeks low ground. There is no man who is not good, just as there is no water that does not flow downward.

Truth uttered before its time is dangerous.

Incessant falls teach men to reform, and distress rouses their strength. Life springs from calamity, and death from ease.

There is no greater delight than to be conscious of sincerity on self-examination.

We want happy paintings. Happy paintings. If you want sad things, watch the news.

We artists are a different breed of people. We’re a happy bunch.

People might look at you a bit funny, but it’s okay. Artists are allowed to be a bit different.

Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better.

There are thousands of very, very talented artists who will never be known, even after they are dead.

When I say be creative I don’t mean that you should all go and become great painters and great poets. I simply mean let your life be a painting, let your life be a poem.

I think there’s an artist hidden at the bottom of every single one of us.

Picasso is a painter, so am I; Picasso is Spanish, so am I; Picasso is a communist, neither am I.