Michelangelo Buonarroti

"Genius is the passion and the labor."

"My soul can find no staircase to heaven unless it be through earth's loveliness."

"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."

"I criticize by creation, not by finding fault."

"The mind of man is like the eye; it cannot see itself."

"There is no greater thing than the human form."

"I have always believed that an artist should develop his own style."

"Every atom of stone and every drop of water is bound together by mutual attraction."

"The laws of nature break themselves for no man."

"My father gave me his nose and his temper, but not his talent."

"If I can but reach that condition of true humility, all virtue will follow."

"I have always believed that nothing is impossible when one has faith."

"The sculptor must strive continually to imitate nature."

"Time is the fire in which we burn."

"One paints with the brain, not the brush."

"I saw an angel in the stone and set it free."

"To practice your art is a wonderful thing, but to have the people recognize your ability is another."

"The true profession of a man is to find his way to himself."

"I have never felt that anything was impossible to those who really tried."

"Beauty is the purification of excess."

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding."

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."

"To arrive at the cathedral, one must first cross the marketplace."

"God is not the name of God, but our understanding of him."

"He who follows another, follows nothing; he finds nothing, is inspired by nothing."

"The sculptor does not work for the block of marble alone."

"Each of us must make his own light."

"Whatever I do, I always finish; I never leave anything half done."

"The male form is closer to the divine than any other."

"My body will die, my soul will not."