"As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed."

"What am I in the eyes of most people? A nonentity or an oddity or a disagreeable person — someone who has and will have no position in society, in short a little lower than the lowest. Very well — ass…"

"He understands, that goes without saying, that he has had a bout of insanity and this thought grieves and revolts him at the same time."

"For me, life may well continue in solitude. I have never perceived those to whom I have been most attached other than as through a glass, darkly."

"I exaggerate, I sometimes make changes to the subject, but still I don't invent the whole of the painting; on the contrary, I find it readymade—but to be untangled—in the real world."