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Discourses on the Fine Arts Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy

Book by Joshua Reynolds · 6 quotes · Art, Excellence, Industry

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Discourses on the Fine Arts Delivered to the Students of the Royal Academy Quotes

“Invention strictly speaking, is little more than a new combination of those images which have been previously gathered and deposited in the memory; nothing can come from nothing.”

“I am convinced that this is the only means of advancing science, of clearing the mind from a confused heap of contradictory observations, that do but perplex and puzzle the Student, when he compares them, or misguide him if he gives himself up to their authority; but bringing them under one general head, can alone give rest and satisfaction to an inquisitive mind.”

“Every art, like our own, has in its composition fluctuating as well as fixed principles. It is an attentive inquiry into their difference that will enable us to determine how far we are influenced by custom and habit, and what is fixed in the nature of things.”