Henri Matisse

I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some kind of a Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.

I didn't expect to recover from my second operation but since I did, I consider that I'm living on borrowed time. Every day that dawns is a gift to me and I take it in that way. I accept it gratefully without looking beyond it. I completely forget my physical suffering and all the unpleasantness of my present condition and I think only of the joy of seeing the sun rise once more and of being able to work a little bit, even under difficult conditions.

To look at something as though we had never seen it before requires great courage.

Don't wait for inspiration. It comes while working.

You must forget all your theories, all your ideas before the subject. What part of these is really your own will be expressed in your expression of the emotion awakened in you by the subject.

An artist must never be a prisoner. Prisoner? An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc.

Time extracts various values from a painter's work. When these values are exhausted the pictures are forgotten, and the more a picture has to give, the greater it is.

With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft.

Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul.

Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.

I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things.

It is only after years of preparation that the young artist should touch color - not color used descriptively, that is, but as a means of personal expression.

Exactitude is not truth.

What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.

In the beginning you must subject yourself to the influence of nature. You must be able to walk firmly on the ground before you start walking on a tightrope.

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.

Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.

He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.