“You come to nature with all your theories, and she knocks them all flat.”

“If you paint the leaf on a tree without using a model, your imagination will only supply you with a few leaves; but Nature offers you millions, all on the same tree. No two leaves are exactly the same. The artist who paints only what is in his mind must very soon repeat himself.”

“The foundation of all civilization is loitering.”

“You see, in this world, there is one awful thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.”

“I've been 40 years discovering that the queen of all colors was black.”

“The truly terrible thing is that everybody has their reasons.”

“A director makes only one movie in his life. Then he breaks it up and makes it again.”