Quotes from E.H. Gombrich

Anyone who can handle a needle convincingly can make us see a thread which is not there.

There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists.

Think of it like this. If you are sad because you can't have something you want - maybe a book or a toy - you can do one of two things: you can do your best to get it, or you can stop wanting it. Either way, if you succeed, you won't be sad any more.

if we want to avoid suffering, we must start with ourselves, because all suffering comes from our own desires.

There is no reality without interpretation; just as there is no innocent eye, there is no innocent ear.

It's a bad idea to try to prevent people from knowing their own history. If you want to do anything new you must first make sure you know what people have tried before.

The artist, no less than the writer, needs a vocabulary before he can embark on a "copy" of reality.

Their assemblies had taught the Athenians how to discuss all matters openly, with arguments for and against. This was good training in learning how to think.

the whole story of art is not a story of progress in technical proficiency, but a story of changing ideas and requirements.

One of Russia's tsars, around 1580, was known as Ivan the Terrible, and rightly so. Beside him Nero was mild.

China is, in fact, the only country in the world to be ruled for hundreds of years, not by the nobility, nor by soldiers, nor even by the priesthood, but by scholars.

And it is because they seem so natural that they are so beautiful.

It is the power of expectation rather than the power of conceptual knowledge that molds what we see in life not less than in art.

The familiar will always remain the likely starting point for the rendering of the unfamiliar; an existing representation will always exert its spell over the artist even while he strives to record the truth.

Nature reflected in art always reflects the artist's own mind, his predilections, his enjoyments, and therefore his moods.

Never favour those who flatter you most, but hold rather to those who risk your displeasure for your own good. Never neglect business for pleasure, organise your life so that there is time in it for relaxation and entertainment. Give the business of government your full attention. Inform yourself as much as you can before taking any decision. Make every effort to get to know men of distinction, so that you may call on them when you need them. Be courteous to all, speak hurtfully to no man.

love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not behave improperly, it does not seek its own advantage, it is not easily provoked, it bears no grudge, delights not in evil but rejoices only in the truth. It shelters all, trusts all, always hopes, always endures. Love is everlasting.

In this type of situation it soon becomes all too clear that in the eyes of the supporters of this sort of movement, there is only one sin, disloyalty to the Führer, or leader, and only one virtue, absolute obedience.

The first man to understand the extraordinary magical power of applying mathematical calculation to things in nature was an Italian called Galileo Galilei.

Los griegos decían que el asombro es el principio del conocimiento, y si dejamos de asombrarnos corremos el riesgo de dejar de conocer.

in those days they weren't citizens as we know them, but old landowning families with vast estates of fields and meadows.

Cyrus became lord of that great realm. His first act was to free all the peoples held in captivity by the Babylonians. Among them were the Jews, who went home to Jerusalem

Later in his life Gautama told the story of his decision in a sermon: 'And so it came about that, in the full freshness and enjoyment of my youth, in glowing health, my hair still black, and against the wishes of my weeping and imploring elders, I shaved my head and beard, dressed in coarse robes, and forsook the shelter of my home.

A painting which represents a familiar subject in an unexpected way is often condemned for no better reason than that it does not seem right.