All art does but consist in the removal of surplusage. A work of art is a corner of creation seen through a temperament. Art is the right hand of Nature. The latter has only given us being, the former has made us men. Art is a human activity having for its purpose the transmission to others of the highest and best feelings to which men have risen.
Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness.
It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so art color life. Art is the great stimulus to life. Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization. Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.