It Is Vain For Painters... To Endeavour

The Great End Of All Arts Is To Make An Impression On The Imagination And The Feeling. The Imitation Of Nature Frequently Does This. Sometimes It Fails And Something Else Succeeds.

But Young Men Have Not Only This Frivolous Ambition Of Being Thought Masters Of Execution, Inciting Them On The One Hand, But Also Their Natural Sloth Tempting Them On The Other. They Are Terrified At The Prospect Before Them, Of The Toil Required To Attain Exactness. The Impetuosity Of Youth Is Disgusted At The Slow Approaches Of A Regular Siege, And Desires, From Mere Impatience Of Labour, To Take The Citadel By Storm. They Wish To Find Some Shorter Path To Excellence, And Hope To Obtain The Reward Of Eminence By Other Means, Than Those Which The Indispensable Rules Of Art Have Prescribed.

The Excellence Of Every Art, Must Consist In The Complete Accomplishment Of Its Purpose

All The Gestures Of Children Are Graceful; The Reign Of Distortion And Unnatural Attitudes Commences With The Introduction Of The Dancing Master.

Words Should Be Employed As The Means, Not The End; Language Is The Instrument, Conviction Is The Work.