Christians

"Rembrandt was a model from the past that artists and critics [in France] sought out because he fulfilled their needs for a new 'non-ideal' exemplar, someone who could justify and bolster their own artistic projects and political views.. ..as a successful predecessor and he functioned as a mentor.. ..through the practical emulation of his artistic techniques.. .French artists did their utmost to absorb, invoke, subsume and usurp Rembrandt’s artistic persona in an effort to define their own identities."

"Two aphorisms about Rembrandt's paintings were drawn from his early biographies and repeatedly attributed to the artist by the French writers: 'A painting is finished when the artists says that it is finished' and 'A painting is not made to be sniffed', but contemplated from a distance.. .These paintings were identified with the latter years of Rembrandt's life, the period in which critics said he suffered most from financial pressures and a lack of public acclaim. Works identified with these final years were the most popular in France during the last decades of the nineteenth century."

"Try to put well in practice what you already know; and in so doing, you will in good time, discover the hidden things which you now inquire about. Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know. By following carefully the rules of teachings provided that they are truthful, you can save a lot of time. But a student full of doubt is unable to move forwards and to judge well the truth."

"version in original Dutch (origineel citaat van Rembrandt, in Nederlands): Van d'waech af te sien statshuis van Amsterldam / doen 't afgebrandt was. / Den 9 july 1652. Rembrandt van Rijn."

"My discoveries came as a result of practising art. For me Rembrandt's drawings exemplify above all others, the sculptural values of space and form. The scholars live in a world apart, reading each others books but refusing all correction from artists; alas, it is our history they are ravaging!"

"But the first documented encounter [ of Rembrandt and Jan Six] was in 1647, 'when Rembrandt made a portrait etching of Jan Six', a work exactly calculated to gratify his self-image as a gentleman-virtuoso. What did the two men of unequal age, background, and ambition see in each other in 1647? Rembrandt had many pupils, assistants, and patrons, but few friends, least of all of the elegantly cultivated kind, personified by Jan Six."

"The picture of Jan Six, painted in 1654 is, then, a virtual encyclopedia of painting, from the loosest handling to the dry brush, sparely loaded with yellow, dragged over the surface at the edge of Six's right cuff; from the finest detail to the most impressionist daring. Yet Rembrandt manages to bring all this diversity of technique into a totally resolved single image. So that Jan Six does indeed stand before us much as we would dearly wish to imagine ourselves, all the contradictions of our character—vanity and modesty, outward show and inward reflectiveness, energy and calm—miraculously fitted together."

"Dutch original text: En Rembrandt, die den nagt verbeelde te figuurlijk. In zijnen duisteren grond."

"There's a lot of great talent there [in Hollywood], but it's no place I wanted to spend much time. I'd rather spend time with Rembrandt and Goya at home. They're better company than those schmucks who never read Lord Of The Rings."

"[..that he] would not touch the painting, nor finish it unless the claimant pays him the balance due or guarantees it by giving a security."

"A painting is not made to be sniffed."

"During this period [1830 – 1900, in France], Rembrandt was appropriated as a symbolic figure by critics and painter-printmakers and assigned a heroic, cult-like artistic and political status. French critics molded and reinvented earlier anecdotal biographies.. ..to formulate an artistic persona that had particular meaning [for] nineteenthcentury French vanguard art and politics."

"original old-Dutch text: ..dat zy de schilderyen, Van Rembrant zellever, verduistert met de naald, Die een pinceel verstrekt, daar zy met goud mee maalt..."

"It would give me a terrific sense of satisfaction to be the man who sent both Eubank and Benn into retirement. Benn doesn't need me to tell him that he's over the hill because, deep down, he knows it."

"I was always fighting from a young age… I wouldn’t back down, I knew Andy wouldn’t have backed down."

"I don’t know if I wanted to top myself or if I just wanted someone to hug me."

"I do detest him, I really do. It's no joke. I can't stand him"

"This is so personal it makes Chris Eubank look like an old friend of mine by comparison."

"He has unbelievable body punching power and is exciting to watch."

"In accordance to the way that Benn speaks, he is not educated. Sure, he's educated to a certain extent, but under different circumstances he would be a bouncer on some door in the West End and he'd have three kids from three different women … I am a superior person to that. I have finer points. So, superior in mentality, yes. As a fighter in accordance to the trade, yes."

"Though movies (Taxi Driver for John Hinckley Jr., would-be assassin of Ronald Reagan), books (The Catcher in the Rye for Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s murderer) and songs (Helter Skelter” for Tate-LaBianca murders mastermind Charles Manson) may articulate specific criminals acts, they don’t inspire the person’s desire for violence. Science has proven that in numerous studies. It’s tempting to blame movies, video games and rap music because they often express humanity’s worst impulses, but impulses are not actions for most of us. And for the mentally ill seeking violence, anything can set them off. Alek Minassian, the self-described incel (involuntary celibate) who deliberately drove his van into a crowd in Toronto in 2018, killing 10 people, said he was motivated by his resentment toward women for having sexually rejected him in favor of giving “their love and affection to obnoxious brutes.” Should we then demand that studios producing romantic comedies and publishers of romance novels be shamed into contributing to anti-incel causes? The 2017 Las Vegas shooter killed 59 and injured 851 during a country music festival. Should country music bear some responsibility?"

"I just sought a way to be someone I wasn't. To be loved."

"I aimed at his back and pulled the trigger five times and all hell broke loose in my mind."

"I don't know how easy that would be but I'd try just to lead an ordinary life again. Stay out of the papers."

"Dead, cold quiet, until he walked up. He looked at me... he walked past me and then I heard in my head. It said, 'Do it, do it, do it,' over and over again."

"There was no emotion in my blood. There was no anger. There was nothing. It was dead silence in my brain."

"There are not many places to go once you've killed someone like John Lennon."

"You are ready to give your life for your honour ... Be ready to give up your honour for your soul."

"For everyone, whatever his state — single, married, widowed or priest — chastity is a triumphant affirmation of love."

"Never say of anybody under you: he is no good. It is you who are no good, for you cannot find a place where he will be of use."

"The higher a statue is raised, the harder and more dangerous the impact when it falls."

"The understanding that so many people demand of others is that everyone should join their party."

"It is easier to bustle about than to study, but it is also less effective."

"Those in love do not know how to say good-bye: they are with one another all the time."

"People who are stupid, unscrupulous, or hypocritical, think that others are just the same. And — this is the real pity — they treat them as if they were."

"With God's grace, you have to tackle and carry out the impossible, because anybody can do what is possible."

"Even in our times, despite those who deny God, earth is very close to Heaven."

"I am every day more convinced that happiness in Heaven is for those who know how to be happy on earth."

"The strength of a chain is the strength of its weakest link."

"All the things of this world are no more than earth. Place them in a heap under your feet and you will be so much the nearer to heaven."

"Gold, silver, jewels: dust, heaps of manure. Gratification, sensual pleasures, satisfaction of the appetites: like a beast, like a mule, like a cock, like a pig, like a bull. Honours, distinctions, titles: things of air, puffs of pride, lies, nothingness."

"The pedant interprets the simplicity and the humility of the wise man as ignorance."

"True virtue is not sad or disagreeable, but pleasantly cheerful."

"You are too calculating. Don't tell me you are young. Youth gives all it can: it gives itself without reserve."

"First, prayer; then, atonement; in the third place, very much 'in the third place', action."

"Work is man's original vocation. It is a blessing from God, and those who consider it a punishment are sadly mistaken."

"Universality has been severely reduced: it is virtually dead as a concept in most areas of public policy…These achievements are due in part to the Reform Party…"

"When I recently re-read the definition of the term, "malignant narcissism", I felt like I was sitting in the gallery of the House of Commons, watching Harper tell outrageous lies about his opponents (like how they support the Taliban or their family is a terrorist) under the libel protection afforded to him in the House, makeup running in its customary stream down the right side of his face, eyes flashing in that rare emotional occurrence mentioned above, lips pulled back against his teeth in an expression that more resembles a rabid dog about to attack than an actual, human smile..."

"Harper is a nerd who aspires to bullydom. He keeps his caucus on a short leash. He speaks to the public via ads. The press and the people - the ingrates! - cannot be trusted to stay on message."

"I think he's just out to get the Jewish vote. But that's not the way to do it. That's so insincere. I know that Jews seem to think Stephen Harper is so pro-Israel. I think he's capitalizing on that."