If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.
Michelangelo

If we have been pleased with life, we should not be displeased with death, since it comes from the hand of the same master.
Michelangelo

It is necessary to keep one's compass in one's eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute, but the eye judges.
Michelangelo

It is well with me only when I have a chisel in my hand.
Michelangelo

Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.
Michelangelo

Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.
Michelangelo

My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness.
Michelangelo

The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break the spell To free the figures slumbering in the stone.
Michelangelo

The best of artists has no conception that the marble alone does not contain within itself.
Michelangelo

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
Michelangelo

The greatest artist has no conception which a single block of white marble does not potentially contain within its mass, but only a hand obedient to the mind can penetrate to this image.
Michelangelo

The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.
Michelangelo

The more the marbles wastes, the more the statue grows.
Michelangelo

The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one's self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.
Michelangelo

The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
Michelangelo

There is no greater harm than that of time wasted.
Michelangelo

Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.
Michelangelo

What do you despise? By this you are truly known.
Michelangelo

What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?
Michelangelo