"Most Holy Father, there are many who, on bringing their feeble judgment to bear on what is written concerning the great achievements of the Romans — the feats of arms, the city of Rome and the wondrous skill shown in the opulence, ornamentation and grandeur of their buildings — have come to the conclusion that these achievements are more likely to be fables than facts. I, however, have always seen — and still do see —things differently. For, bearing in mind the divine quality of the ancients' minds as revealed in the remains still to be seen among the ruins of Rome, I do not find it unreasonable to believe that much of what we consider impossible seemed, to them, exceedingly simple."

“When one is painting one does not think.”

“Everyone loved Raphael because he had the sweetest nature you can imagine. They called him “The Divine”... He was a third-degree initiate, therefore spiritually polarized. He had an oversensitive physical body and did not live very long; he did his whole life work and died by the time he was 37. He was very influenced by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. What makes Raphael’s work so attractive is the harmony represented in each painting. All movements within the composition have been resolved to create an absolute harmony, a stillness without deadness, a harmony which is somehow buoyant. His portraits are second to none. For example, take his portrait of Pope Julius II... From Raphael’s portrait you might think he was a benign Father Christmas whose grim mouth is only the result of losing his teeth. Raphael may have been sweet-natured but he was not stupid — he simply knew better than to paint everything he saw.”

“Time is a vindictive bandit to steal the beauty of our former selves.”