What moves those of genius, what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still no… - Eugène Delacroix

What drives men of genius is their obsession with the idea that what has already been done is not good enough.

Nature creates unity even in the parts of a whole.

"Par quelle triste fatalité l'homme ne peut-il jamais jouir à la fois de toutes les facultés de sa nature, de toutes les perfections dont elle n'est susceptible qu'à des âges différents?"
(Mardi 9 octobre, 1849)

The Natural History Museum is open to the public on Tuesdays and Fridays. Elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus; extraordinary animals! Rubens rendered them marvellously. I had a feeling of happiness as soon as I entered the place and the further I went the stronger it grew. I felt my whole being rise above commonplaces and trivialities and the petty worries of my daily life.