The Real Character Of A Man Is

Nothing Can Come Of Nothing; He Who Has Laid Up No Materials Can Produce No Combinations.

I Wish You To Be Persuaded That Success In Your Art Depends Almost Entirely On Your Own Industry; But The Industry Which I Principally Recommend Is Not The Industry Of The Hands, But Of The Mind.

One Inconvenience... May Attend Bold And Arduous Attempts: Frequent Failure May Discourage. This Evil, However, Is Not More Pernicious Than The Slow Proficiency Which Is The Natural Consequence Of Too Easy Tasks.

Excellence Is Never Granted To Man But As The Reward Of Labor. It Argues No Small Strength Of Mind To Persevere In Habits Of Industry Without The Pleasure Of Perceiving Those Advances, Which, Like The Hand Of A Clock, Whilst They Make Hourly Approaches To Their Point, Yet Proceed So Slowly As To Escape Observation.

However Minutely Labored The Picture May Be In The Detail, The Whole Will Have A False And Even An Unfinished Appearance, At Whatever Distance, Or In Whatever Light It Can Be Shown.