Skip to content

To say of a picture, as is often said in its praise, that it shows great and earnest labor, is to say that it is incomplete and unfit for view.

— James McNeill Whistler The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (1890)

Another quote →

Topics

Work

More quotes by James McNeill Whistler

The rare few, who, early in life, have rid themselves of the friendship of the many.

The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (1890)

You shouldn't say it is not good. You should say you do not like it; and then, you know, you're perfectly safe.

Don C. Seitz in Whistler Stories (1913)

Two and two continue to make four, in spite of the whine of the amateur for three, or the cry of the critic for five.

It is for the artist.. ..in portrait painting to put on canvas something more than the face the model wears for that one day; to paint the man, in short, as well as his features.

The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (1890)

Yes, madam, Nature is creeping up. [in response to a lady who said that a landscape reminded her of his work]

All James McNeill Whistler quotes →

You may also like

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

James Howell English Proverbs (1659)

When we see a great man desiring power instead of his real goal we soon recognize that he is sick, or more precisely that his attitude to his work is sick.

Martin Buber What is Man? (1938)

The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.

Robert Frost A Boy's Will (1913)

In a society such as ours, it is almost impossible for a person to be responsible.

Jacques Ellul The Betrayal by Technology (1993)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: James McNeill Whistler (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.