You begin with the possibilities of the material.

There is no reason not to consider the world as one gigantic painting.

I don't really trust ideas - especially good ones... Rather, I put my trust in the materials that confront me, because they put me in touch with the unknown.

The only thing that I could get with chance, and I never was able to use it, was that I would end up with something quite geometric or the spirit that I was interested in, indulging in, was gone.

It is neither Art for Art, nor Art against Art. I am for Art, but for Art that has nothing to do with Art. Art has everything to do with life, but it has nothing to do with Art.

I've not been cursed with talent, which could be a great inhibitor.

An empty canvas is full.

The artist's job is to be a witness to his time in history.

I don't think of myself as making art. I do what I do because I want to, because painting is the best way I've found to get along with myself.

Even at this late date, I go into my studio, and I think 'Is this going to be it? Is it the end?' You see, nearly everything terrorizes me. When an artist loses that terror, he's through.

I don't want a picture to look like something it isn't. I want it to look like something it is.

Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bullfighters.

One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.

Don’t think about the possibilities of failing. Never forget to think about the possibilities of flying.

Can man direct his course?

A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong.

I like to have a good experience. That's all you have.

Time, which despoils castles, enriches verses.

The thing about happiness, though, is that it never lasts.

Every single night I'm nervous. You never know how the audience is going to react.

Education is not about filling a pail, it's about lighting a fire.