The Mind Is But A Barren Soil;

If Deceiving The Eye Were The Only Business Of The Art... The Minute Painter Would Be More Apt To Succeed. But It Is Not The Eye, It Is The Mind Which The Painter Of Genius Desires To Address.

The Art Of Seeing Nature, Or, In Other Words, The Art Of Using Models, Is In Reality The Great Object, The Point To Which All Our Studies Are Directed.

Style In Painting Is The Same As In Writing; A Power Over Materials, Whether Words Or Colors, By Which Conceptions Or Sentiments Are Conveyed.

Invention Strictly Speaking, Is Little More Than A New Combination Of Those Images Which Have Been Previously Gathered And Deposited In The Memory; Nothing Can Come From Nothing.

Let Me Recommend To You Not To Have Too Great Dependence On Your Practice Or Memory, However Strong Those Impressions May Have Been Which Are There Deposited. They Are Forever Wearing Out, And Will Be At Least Obliterated, Unless They Are Continually Refreshed And Repaired.