Political events have just thrown open the whole Continent; the whole world will now leave war and bend their attention to the cultivation of the arts of peace.

A golden age is in prospect, and art is probably destined to again revive as in the fifteenth century.
"The Americans at present stand unrivalled, and it is my great ambition (and it is certainly a commendable one) to stand among the first.

My country has the most prominent place in my thoughts.

How shall I raise her name, how can I be of service in refuting the calumny, so industriously spread against her, that she has produced no men of genius?
It is this more than anything (aside from painting) that inspires me with a desire to excel in my art.

It arouses my indignation and gives me tenfold energy in the pursuit of my studies.