Looking for inspirational quotes by the legendary artist Michelangelo? We have rounded up the best collection of Michelangelo quotes, sayings, ideas, and messages (with images and pictures) about life, art, creativity, and more to inspire you to strive to be your best in any endeavor.
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known simply as Michelangelo, was one of the most influential and renowned artists of the Italian Renaissance.
He left an indelible mark on the art world with his extraordinary talent and huge body of work.
Michelangelo was not only one of the greatest living artists of his lifetime but probably remains one of the best-known artists ever.
A number of his works in sculpture, painting, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence.
His contributions to the field of art and architecture were life-changing, pushing the boundaries of creativity, and have been a source of inspiration for many artists.
Michelangelo quotes, just like his artistic creations, offer a window into his unique perspective of life, art, and faith.
His insightful words of wisdom have inspired generations of people to work hard and reach their full potential.
Top 10 Michelangelo Quotes
- “Genius is eternal patience.” ― Michelangelo
- “Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.” ― Michelangelo
- “There is no greater harm than that of time wasted.” ― Michelangelo
- “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” ― Michelangelo
- “The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.” ― Michelangelo
- “Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” ― Michelangelo
- “If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” ― Michelangelo
- “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” ― Michelangelo
- “Your gifts lie in the place where your values, passions and strengths meet. Discovering that place is the first step toward sculpting your masterpiece, Your Life.” ― Michelangelo
Famous Quotes Michelangelo
- “I am still learning.” ― Michelangelo
- “Only God creates. The rest of us just copy.” ― Michelangelo
- “Your greatness is measured by your horizons.” ― Michelangelo
- “Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.” ― Michelangelo
- “Perfection is no small thing, but it is made up of small things.” ― Michelangelo
- “I couldn’t give you something mediocre even if that’s all you asked for.” ― Michelangelo
- “A beautiful thing never gives so much pain as does failing to hear and see it.” ― Michelangelo
- “From such a gentle thing, from such a fountain of all delight, my every pain is born.” ― Michelangelo
- “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” ― Michelangelo
- “Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.” ― Michelangelo
- “The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one’s self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.” ― Michelangelo
- “I created a vision of David in my mind and simply carved away everything that was not David.” ― Michelangelo
Best Quotes Of Michelangelo On Life
- “As you give out so you shall receive.” ― Michelangelo
- “Do not fret, for God did not create us to abandon us.” ― Michelangelo
- “Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven.” ― Michelangelo
- “My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth’s loveliness.” ― Michelangelo
- “My good is given to me by heaven, my evil by myself, by my free will, of which I am deprived.” ― Michelangelo
- “To know each other is the best way to understand each other. To understand each other is the only way to love each other.” ― Michelangelo
- “If we have been pleased with life, we should not be displeased with death, since it comes from the hand of the same master.” ― Michelangelo
- “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.” ― Michelangelo
- “For those who feel it, nothing makes the soul so religious and pure as the endeavor to create something perfect. For God is perfection, and whoever strives after it, is striving after something divine.” ― Michelangelo
- “If in my youth I had realized that the sustaining splendor of beauty of with which I was in love would one day flood back into my heart, there to ignite a flame that would torture me without end, how gladly would I have put out the light in my eyes.” ― Michelangelo
- “I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.” ― Michelangelo
Quotes By Michelangelo About Art
- “No great work of art is ever finished.” ― Michelangelo
- “Good painting is the kind that looks like sculpture.” ― Michelangelo
- “A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.” ― Michelangelo
- “Carving is easy, you just go down to the skin and stop.” ― Michelangelo
- “If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn’t call it genius.” ― Michelangelo
- “Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.” ― Michelangelo
- “The idea is there locked inside. All you have to do is remove the excess stone.” ― Michelangelo
- “An artist does his most difficult work when he steps back from the blank canvas and thinks about what he is going to create.” ― Michelangelo
- “True painting is only the image of the perfection of God, a shadow of the pencil with which he paints, a melody, a striving after harmony.” ― Michelangelo
- “Many believe – and I believe – that I have been designated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.” ― Michelangelo
- “In every block of marble, I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” ― Michelangelo
Michelangelo Quotes
- “Critique by creating.” ― Michelangelo
- “I live and love in God’s peculiar light.” ― Michelangelo
- “Lord, make me see thy glory in every place.” ― Michelangelo
- “It is well with me only when I have a chisel in my hand.” ― Michelangelo
- “Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.” ― Michelangelo
- “The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.” ― Michelangelo
- “The best of artists has no conception that the marble alone does not contain within itself.” ― Michelangelo
- “It is necessary to keep one’s compass in one’s eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute, but the eye judges.” ― Michelangelo
- “I am a poor man and of little worth, who is laboring in that art that God has given me in order to extend my life as long as possible.” ― Michelangelo
- “Every beauty which is seen here by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all come.” ― Michelangelo
- “To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.” ― Michelangelo
- “What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is nobler than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?” ― Michelangelo
Michelangelo’s Life: Paintings & Sculptures
Born on March 6, 1475, in the Republic of Florence, Michelangelo showed his inclination towards art at a very early age, leading him to become a master sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance.
Some of his most notable works include the sculptures of Pietà and David, the Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes, ‘The Last Judgement’, and his architectural designs for St. Peter’s Basilica and the Laurentian Library in Florence.
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