Michelangelo
sculptor, architectural draftsperson, painter, architect, poet, engineer, general contractor, writer, visual artist
Read on Wikipedia1475 – 1564
All Quotes by Michelangelo
“I am a poor man and of little worth, who is laboring in that art that God has given me in order to extend my life as long as possible.”
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
“My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness.”
“The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”
“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.”
“Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.”
“The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”
“Genius is eternal patience.”
“It is well with me only when I have a chisel in my hand.”
“It is necessary to keep one's compass in one's eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute, but the eye judges.”
“Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven.”
“Your greatness is measured by your horizons.”
“The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.”
“What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?”
“Carving is easy, you just go down to the skin and stop.”
“Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.”
“I live in sin, to kill myself I live; no longer my life my own, but sin's; my good is given to me by heaven, my evil by myself, by my free will, of which I am deprived.”
“From such a gentle thing, from such a fountain of all delight, my every pain is born.”
“The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one's self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.”
“I cannot live under pressures from patrons, let alone paint.”
“Even if you are divine, you don't disdain male consorts.”
“Good painting is the kind that looks like sculpture.”
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
“I have never felt salvation in nature. I love cities above all.”
“I am still learning.”
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
“Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”
“Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.”
“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
“There is no greater harm than that of time wasted.”
“If in my youth I had realized that the sustaining splendour of beauty of with which I was in love would one day flood back into my heart, there to ignite a flame that would torture me without end, how gladly would I have put out the light in my eyes.”
“I live and love in God's peculiar light.”
“The more the marbles wastes, the more the statue grows.”
“Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.”
“What do you despise? By this you are truly known.”
“The best of artists has no conception that the marble alone does not contain within itself.”
“The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break the spell To free the figures slumbering in the stone.”
“If we have been pleased with life, we should not be displeased with death, since it comes from the hand of the same master.”
“The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of white marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image.”
“A beautiful thing never gives so much pain as does failing to hear and see it.”
“I am a poor man and of little worth, who is laboring in that art that God has given me in order to extend my life as long as possible.”
“I cannot live under pressures from patrons, let alone paint.”
“Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.”
“Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven.”
“Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.”
“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
“The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one's self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.”
“Your lordship, only worldly light in this age of ours, you can never be pleased with another man's work for there is no man who resembles you, nor one to equal you … It grieves me greatly that I cannot recapture my past, so as to longer be at your service. As it is, I can only offer you my future, which is short, for I am too old … That is all I have to say. Read my heart for "the quill cannot express good will."”
“Beauty is the purgation of superfluities.l”
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”
“I was never the kind of painter or sculptor who kept a shop.”
“As when, O lady mine,The more the statue grows.”
“Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”
“Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.”
“I have never felt salvation in nature. I love cities above all.”
“Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.”
“I live and love in God's peculiar light.”
“I am still learning.”
“If in my youth I had realized that the sustaining splendour of beauty of with which I was in love would one day flood back into my heart, there to ignite a flame that would torture me without end, how gladly would I have put out the light in my eyes.”
“Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.”
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
“The best of artists has no conception that the marble alone does not contain within itself.”
“The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break the spell To free the figures slumbering in the stone.”
“Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven.”
“I live and love in God's peculiar light.”
“Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.”
“The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.”