It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.Arthur C. Clarke, clarkefoundation.org
If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, I will answer you: I am here to live out loud!Émile Zola quoted in Writers on Writing (1986) by Jon Winokur
The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.Émile Zola as quoted in Wisdom for the Soul by Larry Chang
There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman.Émile Zola, Letter to Paul Cézanne (16 April 1860)