I work obstinately, and once in a while I catch a glimpse of the Promised Land. Am I to be like the great leader of the Hebrews, or will I really attain unto it?... I have a large studio in the country. I can work better there than in the city. I have made some progress. Oh, why so late and so painful? Must art indeed be a priesthood, demanding that the faithful be bound to it body and soul?

In: a letter to Vollard - Aix, 9 January, 1903, as quoted in Cezanne, by Ambroise Vollard, Dover publications Inc. New York, 1984, p. 103 - after 1900