10 Surprising Thoughts of Claude Monet on Life and Painting

1. Colours are my obsession, my joy, and my torment.

2. People talk about my work and pretend to understand it, as if understanding were necessary, when in truth all that is necessary is to love it.

3. If, before you begin to paint, you cannot yet see the painting in your mind, and are not certain of the technique and composition, you are not an artist.

4. Flowers are essential to me, every day.

5. My greatest masterpiece is my garden.

6. The longer I live, the more it grieves me that I know so little.

7. I am no miracle worker — I simply use up and squander a great deal of paint.

8. I do not think I was made for earthly pleasures.

9. Only coloured silence makes my heart beat.

10. I want to paint the songs of birds.