H.S. Ede

“The world is corrupt, and the way for me to make it better is not by writing letters, but joining my efforts with those of others to produce a work of beauty.”

“A great artist is conscious of the talent and the power he possesses, otherwise he would not see his faults, and so would not be able to improve.”

“Now that I have definitely begun to live I find myself more and more convinced that civilization with its trappings and artificialities is not so good as nature.”

“The greatest masters have only made single statues, groups are always inferior; that is why Carpeaux, big though he was, is less so than Rodin, for he never knew how to make single statues. He did not know how to find his rhythm in the arrangement of the shapes of one body, but obtained it by the disposition of several. The great sculptors are there to prove it. Think of the masterpieces which we like most, all standing or seated, and one at a time, and they are not in the least monotonous. The connoisseur loves one spicy cake, but the glutton requires at least six to stimulate his pleasure.”