The function of art is to struggle against obligation.

Every great work of art should be considered like any work of nature. First of all from the point of view of its aesthetic reality and then not just from its development and the mastery of its creation but from the standpoint of what has moved and agitated its creator.

I want to be a tuneswept fiddle string that feels the master melody, and snaps.

It is your duty in life to save your dream.

Rome is not outside me, but inside me.. Her feverish sweetness, her tragic countryside, her own beauty and harmony, all these are mine, for my thought and my work.

When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes.

What I am seeking is not the real and not the unreal but rather the unconscious, the mystery of the instinctive in the human race.

What I look for is neither reality nor unreality but the subconscious, the instinctive mystery of the human race.

Happiness is an angel with a serious face

You are not alive unless you know you are living.

With one eye you are looking at the outside world, while with the other you are looking within yourself.