I have always had a passion for the beautiful. If the man in me is often a pessimist, the artist, on the contrary, is pre-eminently an optimist.

- Jules Breton

The true is not material reality only.

- Jules Breton

I was painting her portrait in the little studio, and when I came to the eyes I stopped, overcome by emotion, and said to her, 'Have you understood m…

- Jules Breton

There is nothing new under the sun, not even Manet.

- Jules Breton

The wretched beings depicted by Millet touch us profoundly because he loved them profoundly. They have nothing in common with vulgar ugliness. Beauty…

- Jules Breton

Courbet comes in 1849 with the intention of overthrowing past art and constructing it anew. While he speaks only of realism, of which he proclaims hi…

- Jules Breton

I had not yet acquired the experience which gives modesty.

- Jules Breton

The artist should not be satisfied to only play the part of a mirror.

- Jules Breton