No one can be a painter unless he cares for painting above all else.
Edouard Manet

Black is not a color.
Edouard Manet

I need to work to feel well.
Edouard Manet

You would hardly believe how difficult it is to place a figure alone on a canvas, and to concentrate all the interest on this single and universal figure and still keep it living and real.
Edouard Manet

The attacks of which I have been the object have broken the spring of life in me... People don't realize what it feels like to be constantly insulted.
Edouard Manet

It is not enough to know your craft - you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but for us imagination is worth far more.
Edouard Manet

There is only one true thing: instantly paint what you see. When you've got it, you've got it. When you haven't, you begin again. All the rest is humbug.
Edouard Manet

There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another.
Edouard Manet