“I do not know a better cure for mental illness than a book.”

“An empty stomach is better than full and grief is better than happiness.”

“The brooding is better than the joy because even if the heart fills with happiness, it still mourns.”

“There are no faster or firmer friendships than those formed between people who love the same books.”

“Indignation. Best fuel I know. Never burns out.”

“I cannot draw a human figure if I don't know the order of his bones, muscles or tendons. Same is that I cannot draw a human face if I don't know what's going on his mind and heart. In order to paint life one must understand not only anatomy, but what people feel and think about the world they live in. The painter who knows his own craft and nothing else will turn out to be a very superficial artist.”

“Do you know the anecdote about Rubens? He was serving Holland as Ambassador to Spain and used to spend the afternoon in the royal gardens before his easel. One day a jaunty member of the Spanish Court passed and remarked, ‘I see that the diplomat amuses himself sometimes with painting,’ to which Rubens replied, ‘No, the painter amuses himself sometimes with diplomacy!”