Oscar Wilde Quotes

He who excels in his art so as to carry it to the utmost height of perfection of which it is capable may be said in some measure to go beyond it: his transcendent productions admit of no appellations.

None of the arts are any good unless you really are great at them.

If modern painters feel qualms about applying the term "masterpiece" to describe a work of capital importance, this is because it has come to convey a notion of perfection: a notion that leads to much confusion when applied to artists other than those who made perfection their ideal.

I'm not saying I'm the best. There are many painters in the world. But there is only one Picasso.

With Dr. Dre, he's a perfectionist. A lot of people ask why 'Detox' is taking so long. It's because Dre is somebody that is trying to top what he's done. Will he do it? I don't know if he ever will, but I respect that he's trying to do so. You have to wait for a masterpiece.

Artists who approach perfection do not have many ideas.

Our best work can't possibly appeal to the average masses, only our average work can. Finding the humility to happily walk away from those that don't get it unlocks our ability to do great work.

How do we appreciate the good without letting it be the enemy of the perfect? How do we keep a step in the right direction from becoming a stopping point? How do we get beyond shades of insipid light green?

The great artist, whether he be musician, painter, or poet, is known for this absolute unexpectedness.

In art, 'good enough' is not good enough.

Speaking of August Rodin: He raised his world above us in an immense arc, and made it a part of nature.

Art is what we're doing when we do our best work.

A small artist is content with art; a great artist is content with nothing except everything.

Perfect works are rare, because they must be produced at the happy moment when taste and genius unite; and this rare conjuncture, like that of certain planets, appears to occur only after the revolution of several cycles, and only lasts for an instant.

Michelangelo is a constructor, and Rafael an artist who, great as he is, is always limited by the model. When he tries to be thoughtful he falls below the niveau of his great rival.

Really great design is hard. Good is the enemy of great.

It is an error common to many artists, who strive merely to avoid mistakes, when all our efforts should be to create positive and important work. Better positive and important with mistakes and failures than perfect mediocrity.

Genius is full of trash.

Works of genius are the first things in the world.

Cezanne, you see, is a sort of God of painting.

The excellence of every Art is its intensity.

The great artist when he comes, uses everything that has been discovered or known about his art up to that point, being able to accept or reject in a time so short it seems that the knowledge was born with him, rather than that he takes instantly what it takes the ordinary man a lifetime to know, and then the great artist goes beyond what has been done or known and makes something of his own.

A writer writes with his genius; an artist paints with hers; everyone who creates operates from this sacramental center.

Better is not good enough; the best is yet to come!