Nature paints the best part of a picture, carves the best parts of the statue, builds the best part of the house, and speaks the best part of the oration.

Every genuine work of art has as much reason for being as the earth and the sun.

A masterpiece of art has in the mind a fixed place in the chain of being, as much as a plant or a crystal.

The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of the cities, nor the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out.

If you want to know what true art is, go outside on a clear night, wait until it gets very, very dark, then look up. You will see no rules of composition; no e…

The ladies of St. James's! They're painted to the eyes; Their white it stays forever Their red it never dies: But Phillida, my Phillida! Her color comes and go…

I care not for these ladies, That must be wooed and prayed; Give me kind Amaryllis, The wanton country maid. Nature art disdaineth; Her beauty is her own.