I am much disturbed by my unpolished and rough execution; I should like to develop a smoother technique.... I will calmly tread the path I have taken, and try to do my best. At bottom, I have only a vague sense of its rightness or wrongness.

In 1883, after seeing his work at Durand-Ruel 's gallery in Paris; as quoted in Painting Outside the lines, Patterns of Creativity in Modern Art, ed. David W. Galenson, Harvard University Press, 30 Jun 2009, p. 84