All Joshua Reynolds Quotes
- Invention strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory; nothing can… Been
- I am convinced that this is the only means of advancing science, of clearing the mind from a confused heap of contradictory observations, that do… Advancing
- If you have great talents, industry will improve them: if you have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiency. Abilities
- It is but a poor eloquence which only shows that the orator can talk. Eloquence
- Genius is supposed to be a power of producing excellences which are put of the reach of the rules of art: a power which no… Acquire
- A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great. Anything Great
- Few have been taught to any purpose who have not been their own teachers. Any
- Gardening as far as Gardening is Art, or entitled to that appellation, is a deviation from nature; for if the true taste consists, as many… Any
- Simplicity is an exact mediumbetween too little and too much. Exact
- The real character of a man is found out by his amusements.... Amusement
- The mind is but a barren soil; a soil which is soon exhausted, and will produce no crop, or only one, unless it be continually… Barren
- Excellence is never granted to man but as the reward of labor. It argues no small strength of mind to persevere in habits of industry… Advances
- Excellence is never granted to man, but as the reward of labour. Excellence
- Style in painting is the same as in writing; a power over materials, whether words or colors, by which conceptions or sentiments are conveyed. Art
- The first degree of proficiency is, in painting, what grammar is in literature, a general preparation for whatever the student may afterward choose for more… Afterward
- Every art, like our own, has in its composition fluctuating as well as fixed principles. It is an attentive inquiry into their difference that will… Art
- The value and rank of every art is in proportion to the mental labor employed in it, or the mental pleasure in producing it. Art
- The excellence of every art, must consist in the complete accomplishment of its purpose Accomplishment
- Could we teach taste or genius by rules, they would be no longer taste and genius. Genius
- He who resolves never to ransack any mind but his own, will be soon reduced, from mere barrenness, to the poorest of all imitations; he… All
- Less coin, less care ... Care
- Nothing can be made of nothing; he who has laid up no material can produce no combination. Combination
- The greatest man is he who forms the taste of a nation; the next greatest is he who corrupts it. Corrupts
- Words should be employed as the means, not the end; language is the instrument, conviction is the work. Conviction
- The young mind is pliable and imitates, but in more advanced states grows rigid and must be warmed and softened before it will receive a… Advanced