James Northcote

“The only real merit of a man is his power of doing that which is useful to mankind.”

“We are not created to enjoy life, but to go through it.”

“Vanity is a passion that will never be extinguished in the human mind.”

“An imitator is a man who resides in the letter of the law, and does not enter into the spirit of it.”

“The great artists of the world are never Puritans, and seldom even ordinarily respectable.”

“There are two things that I am very fond of, - a cat and a ferret.”

“The world is a place that you can't live in without being worse than you would be.”

“I have no patience for the stupidity of the average man.”

“I hate the sight of the country. I hate the sky, because I can't get at it.”

“I am not a gentleman. I am a painter.”

“No man is a hero to his valet-de-chambre.”

“Fools admire, but men of sense approve.”

“We may be as good as we please, if we please to be good.”

“I am never afraid of what I know.”

“Style in painting is the same as in writing, a power over materials, whether words or colors, by which conceptions or sentiments are conveyed.”