“Often whole days pass without my speaking to anyone.”

One must never let the fire go out in one’s soul, but keep it burning.

It is very necessary to work in the garden and see the flowers growing.

I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process.

There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.

In an artist’s life, death is perhaps not the most difficult thing.

I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process.

There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.

In an artist’s life, death is perhaps not the most difficult thing.

The only time I feel alive is when I’m painting.

If you end up falling in love with someone, it’s because of them. If you end up hating someone, it’s because of you.

I wish they would take me as I am.

I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say ‘he feels deeply, he feels tenderly’.

Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.

Conscience is a man’s compass.

One of the hardest things to do is to paint darkness which nonetheless has light in it.

One can speak poetry just by arranging colors well, just as one can say comforting things in music.

Nothing hurts more than loneliness.

Real loneliness is not necessarily limited to when you are alone.

Everytime the leaves are changing it’s the loneliest time of the year.

Loneliness is the best supporter.

The shortest distance between two points is often unbearable.

Aloneness is your nature. You were born alone, you will die alone. And you are living alone without understanding it, without being fully aware of it. You misunderstand aloneness as loneliness; it is simply a misunderstanding. You are sufficient unto yourself.

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are.

I remember how being young and Black and gay and lonely felt. A lot of it was fine, feeling I had the truth and the light and the key, but a lot of it was purely hell.