“There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking.”

“But young men have not only this frivolous ambition of being thought masters of execution, inciting them on the one hand, but also their natural sloth tempting them on the other. They are terrified at the prospect before them, of the toil required to attain exactness. The impetuosity of youth is disgusted at the slow approaches of a regular siege, and desires, from mere impatience of labour, to take the citadel by storm. They wish to find some shorter path to excellence, and hope to obtain the reward of eminence by other means, than those which the indispensable rules of art have prescribed.”

“Simplicity is an exact medium between too little and too much”

“Common observation and a plain understanding is the source of all art.”

“There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the real labor of thinking.”

“I pray that if a god watches over us, it will have the decency to avoid the tasteless maneuver of voyeuristic trespass.”

“The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch, the world says, “This is love.” God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, “This is love.”