If other people are going to talk, conversation becomes impossible.
James Whistler

It takes a long time for a man to look like his portrait.
James Whistler

I can't tell you if genius is hereditary, because heaven has granted me no offspring.
James Whistler

I am not arguing with you - I am telling you.
James Whistler

To say to the painter that Nature is to be taken as she is, is to say to the player that he may sit on the piano.
James Whistler

You shouldn't say it is not good. You should say, you do not like it; and then, you know, you're perfectly safe.
James Whistler

I maintain that two and two would continue to make four, in spite of the whine of the amateur for three, or the cry of the critic for five.
James Whistler