"'Every subject is good', he [Millet] said. 'All we have to do is to render it with force and clearness. In art we should have one leading thought, and see that we express it in eloquent language, that we keep it alive in ourselves, and impart it to others as clearly as we stamp a medal. Art is not a pleasure-trip; it is a battle, a mill that grinds. I am no philosopher. I do not pretend to do away with pain, or to find a formula which will make me a Stoic, and indifferent to evil. Suffering is, perhaps, the one thing that gives an artist power to express himself clearly. He spoke in this manner for some time and then stopped, as if afraid of his own words. But we parted, feeling that we understood each other, and had laid the foundations of a lasting friendship."
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Alfred Sensier - his faithful friend till Millet's death, and his later biographer - describes here his very first meeting with Millet in Paris, 1847
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Millet
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Jean-François Millet
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