James Northcote

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

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

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

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

“Fools admire, but men of sense approve.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I am never afraid of what I know.”