Auguste Rodin Quotes.
He who is discouraged after a failure is not a real artist.
I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don’t need.
An artist worthy of the name should express all the truth of nature, not only the exterior truth, but also, and above all, the inner truth.
The work of art is already within the block of marble. I just chop off whatever isn’t needed.
Mystery is like a kind of atmosphere which bathes the greatest works of the masters.
If the artist only reproduces superficial features as photography does, if he copies the lineaments of a face exactly, without reference to character, he deserves no admiration. The resemblance which he ought to obtain is that of the soul.
Art is the pleasure of a spirit that enters nature and discovers that it too has a soul.
The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live. Be a man before being an artist!
The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him.
Man enjoys living on the edge of his dreams and neglects the real things of the world which are so beautiful. The ignorant and indifferent destroy beautiful things merely by looking at the marble. Things that remake the soul of him who understands them.
Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which nature herself is animated.
The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.
There are unknown forces in nature; when we give ourselves wholly to her, without reserve, she lends them to us; she shows us these forms, which our watching eyes do not see, which our intelligence does not understand or suspect.
The more simple we are, the more complete we become.
Inside you there’s an artist you don’t know about. He’s not interested in how things look different in moonlight.
To any artist, worthy of the name, all in nature is beautiful, because his eyes, fearlessly accepting all exterior truth, read there, as in an open book, all the inner truth.
People say I think too much about women, yet, after all what is there more important to think about?
Man’s naked form belongs to no particular moment in history; it is eternal, and can be looked upon with joy by the people of all ages.
Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.
The human body is first and foremost a mirror to the soul and its greatest beauty comes from that.
Patience is also a form of action.
True artists are almost the only men who do their work for pleasure.
Where did I learn to understand sculpture? In the woods by looking at the trees, along roads by observing the formation of clouds, in the studio by studying the model, everywhere except in the schools.
What is commonly called ugliness in nature can in art become full of beauty.
I invent nothing, I rediscover.
Where shall we begin? There is no beginning. Start where you arrive. Stop before what entices you. And work! You will enter little by little into the entirety. Method will be born in proportion to your interest.
Love your calling with passion, it is the meaning of your life.
The modes of expression of men of genius differ as much as their souls, and it is impossible to say that in some among them, drawing and color are better or worse than in others.
Mere exactitude, of which photography and moulage [life casting] are the lowest forms, does not inspire feelings.
In art, immorality cannot exist. Art is always sacred.