Robert Henri Men Quotations

Do whatever you do intensely. The artist is the man who leaves the crowd and goes pioneering. With him there is an idea which is his life.

The great painter has something to say. He does not paint men, landscapes, or furniture; but an idea.

Through art mysterious bonds of understanding and of knowledge are established among men.

Through art, mysterious bonds of understanding and of knowledge are established among men. They are the bonds of a great Brotherhood. Those who are of the Brotherhood know each other, and time and space cannot separate them.

The pursuit of happiness...is the greatest feat man has to accomplish.

It seems to me that before a man tries to express anything to the world he must recognize in himself an individual, a new one, very distinct from others.

The true artist regards his work as a means of talking with men [and women], of saying his say to himself and to others. It is not a question of pay...

The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and alive. It is the greatest feat man has to accomplish, and spirits must flow. There must be courage. There are no easy ruts to get into which lead to happiness. A man must become interesting to himself and must become actually expressive before he can be happy.

Each man must take the material that he finds at hand, see that in it there are the big truths of life, the fundamentally big forces, and then express in his art whatever is the cause of his pleasure.

Art is the giving by each man of his evidence to the world. Those who wish to give, love to give, discover the pleasure of giving. Those who give are tremendously strong.

Artists must be men of wit, consciously or unconsciously philosophers; read, study and think a great deal of life...