"A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light."

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."

"The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands."

"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence."

"I love those who can smile in trouble."