Author of quotes: Joshua Reynolds. Page 1

If we could teach taste or genius by rules, they would no longer be taste and genius.

The artist must not only imitate the works of nature by necessity ... but he must be an equally necessary imitator of the work of other artists: it seems more humiliating, but equally true; and no man can be an artist, no matter what he presumes, under any other conditions.

Reason is just barren soil; soil that will soon be depleted and will not give a crop or only one, if it is not constantly fertilized and enriched with foreign substances.

The habit of accurately drawing what we see, gives the corresponding ability to accurately draw what we think...

A man's true character can be determined by how he plays.