“The artist must train not only his eye but also his soul.”

“We are talking about an artist; and for the enjoyment of the artist the mask must be to some extent moulded on the face. What he makes outside him must correspond to something inside him; he can only make his effects out of some of the materials of his soul.”

“This book was written in 1920 in the car of a military train and amid the flames of the civil war. The circumstance the reader must keep before his eyes if he wishes rightly to understand not only the basic material of the book, but also its harsh allusion, and particularly the tone in which it is written.”

“The Artist always has the masters in his eyes.”

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul and paints his own nature into his picture.”

“Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.”

“The artist produces for the liberation of his soul. It is his nature to create as it is the nature of water to run down the hill.”

“The worst evil which can befall the artist is that his work should appear good in his own eyes.”

“All means are sacred when they are dictated by inner necessity. All means are reprehensible when they do not spring from the fountain of inner necessity… The artist must be blind to 'recognized' and 'unrecognized' form, deaf to the teachings and desires of his time. His open eyes must be directed to his inner life and his ears must be constantly attuned to the voice of inner necessity.”

“An artist reveals his naked soul in his work - and so, gentle reader, do you when you respond to it.”