Only the painter who knows his business can create the impression that a picture was done in one stroke.

It took me twenty years to discover painting: twenty years looking at nature, and above all, going to the Louvre.

To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.

The pain passes, but the beauty remains.

Art is about emotion; if art needs to be explained it is no longer art.

One morning, one of us ran out of the black, it was the birth of Impressionism.

When I've painted a woman's bottom so that I want to touch it, then [the painting] is finished.

Work lovingly done is the secret of all order and all happiness.

Why shouldn’t art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world.

One must from time to time attempt things that are beyond one's capacity.

Photography freed painting from a lot of tiresome chores, starting with family portraits.

Relationships are like gardening. If you don't water the plants, they die.

Pain is nothing but growth waiting for us to give it permission to grow us up.

You are an atheist if you do not believe in yourself

Sometimes it isn't fighting that's brave, it's facing the death you know is coming.

The more space and emptiness you can create in yourself, then you can let the rest of the world come in and fill you up.

For me to go to a restaurant and eat something that is not only good, but totally new, is a double thrill. Double the enjoyment.

Historically, San Franciscans have not valued street trees as much as other communities have

Too often, complaint is not about principled objection on moral grounds, but opportunistic objection on grounds of self-interest. To rectify this, we need to work on mastering the art of complaint.

Rule of thumb: Eat for what you're going to be doing, and not for what you have done. Don't take in more than you're willing to burn off.

Don't give up the search for happiness because you're afraid of getting hurt.