30 quotes
I will admit that an artist may be great and limited; by one word he may light up an abyss of soul; but there must be this one magical and unique word.
Confessions of a Young Man (1886)
The mind petrifies if a circle be drawn around it, and it can hardly be denied that dogma draws a circle round the mind.
Hail and Farewell (1912)
Acting is therefore the lowest of the arts, if it is an art at all.
Impressions and Opinions (1891)
It does not matter how badly you paint so long as you don't paint badly like other people.
Confessions of a Young Man (1886)
A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.
The wrong way always seems the more reasonable.
The Bending of the Bough (1900)
Self is man's main business; all outside of self is uncertain, all comes from self, all returns to self.
But if you want to be a painter you must go to France — France is the only school of Art.
Confessions of a Young Man (1886)
Humanity is a pigsty, where lions, hypocrites, and the obscene in spirit congregate.
Confessions of a Young Man (1886)
Ugliness is trivial, the monstrous is terrible.
Confessions of a Young Man (1886)
After all there is but one race — humanity.
The Bending of the Bough (1900)
One must be in London to see the spring.
The difficulty in life is the choice.
The Bending of the Bough (1900)
He must put his shoulder to the wheel and get it right; one more push, that was all that was wanted.
The public will accept a masterpiece, but it will not accept an attempt to write a masterpiece.
We humans are more complicated than animals, and we love through the imagination.
The lot of critics is to be remembered by what they failed to understand.
Impressions and Opinions (1891)
Faith goes out of the window when beauty comes in at the door.
The Lake (1905)
A great artist is always before his time or behind it.
Conversations with George Moore (1929)
It would appear that practical morality consists in making the meeting of men and women as casual as that of animals.