Paul Klee's Quotes

Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see.

A drawing is simply a line going for a walk.

A line is a dot that went for a walk.

Children also have artistic ability, and there is wisdom in there having it! The more helpless they are, the more instructive are the examples they furnish us; and they must be preserved free of corruption from an early age.

The art of mastering life is the prerequisite for all further forms of expression, whether they are paintings, sculptures, tragedies, or musical compositions.

One eye sees, the other feels.

The worst state of affairs is when science begins to concern itself with art.

Color possesses me. I don't have to pursue it. It will possess me always, I know it. That is the meaning of this happy hour: Color and I are one. I am a painter.

The painter should not paint what he sees, but what will be seen.

To emphasize only the beautiful seems to me to be like a mathematical system that only concerns itself with positive numbers.

Beauty is as relative as light and dark. Thus, there exists no beautiful woman, none at all, because you are never certain that a still far more beautiful woman will not appear and completely shame the supposed beauty of the first.

In the final analysis, a drawing simply is no longer a drawing, no matter how self-sufficient its execution may be. It is a symbol, and the more profoundly the imaginary lines of projection meet higher dimensions, the better.

A single day is enough to make us a little larger or, another time, a little smaller.

He has found his style, when he cannot do otherwise.

When looking at any significant work of art, remember that a more significant one probably has had to be sacrificed.

Nature is garrulous to the point of confusion, let the artist be truly taciturn.

Everything vanishes around me, and works are born as if out of the void. Ripe, graphic fruits fall off. My hand has become the obedient instrument of a remote will.

One does not lash hat lies at a distance. The foibles that we ridicule must at least be a little bit our own. Only then will the work be a part of our own flesh. The garden must be weeded.