Quotes by Henri Matisse

“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

“Creativity takes courage.”

“An artist must never be a prisoner. Prisoner? An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc.”

“There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.”

“In love, the one who runs away is the winner.”

“I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me.”

“In art, truth and reality begin when one no longer understands what one is doing or what one knows, and when there remains an energy that is all the stronger for being constrained, controlled and compressed.”

“He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.”

“Drawing is putting a line (a)round an idea.”

“Exactitude is not truth.”

“Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”

“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun.”

“Cutting into color reminds me of the sculptors direct carving.”

“Derive happiness in oneself from a good days work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.”

I dont know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, Im some kind of a Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.

Creativity takes courage.

You must forget all your theories, all your ideas before the subject. What part of these is really your own will be expressed in your expression of the emotion awakened in you by the subject.

Dont wait for inspiration. It comes while working.

To look at something as though we had never seen it before requires great courage.

I didnt expect to recover from my second operation but since I did, I consider that Im living on borrowed time. Every day that dawns is a gift to me and I take it in that way. I accept it gratefully without looking beyond it. I completely forget my physical suffering and all the unpleasantness of my present condition and I think only of the joy of seeing the sun rise once more and of being able to work a little bit, even under difficult conditions.