WILLIAM BLAKEAIt is God in all that is our companion and friend, for our God Himself says: >you are my brother, my sister and my mother.=@(Keynes, 1961, 733)AGod is in the lowest effects as well as in the highest causes; for he is become a worm that he may nourish the weak. For let it be remembered that creation is God descending according to the weakness of man, for our Lord is the word of God and every thing on earth is the word of God and its essence is God.@(Ibid., 733)AIf God is anything He is understanding.@(Ibid., 733)
"Once we have attained a certain age we find no other support or consolation than in religion." (Rewald, J., 1950)
“ I am helpless and can render you no service, but as I shall die before you (Emile Zola) I shall intercede before the Almighty for a good place for you.” (Mack, 1935, 281)
“Let me repeat what I told you here: you must see in nature the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, all put into perspective, so that every side of the object, of a plane, recedes to a central point. The parallel lines at the horizon give the extension, that is a section of nature, or, if you prefer, of the spectacle which the Omnipotent Eternal God and Father spreads before our eyes.” (Ibid., 377-378)
"God is within us: it is that inner presence which makes us admire the beautiful, which rejoices us when we have done right and consoles us for not sharing in the happiness of the wicked. It is that, beyond a doubt, which constitutes the inspiration of men of genius and which warms them at the spectacle of their own productions." (Pack, 1972, 697)
“Does nature promise us that we shall love and possess one another elsewhere, without this disquiet and anxiety that accompany our happiest moments? The woods and the springs tell me so.” (Delacroix, 1971)
“The merciful God also help me to a happy end.” (Russell, 1967, 90)
“God granted me diligence so that I learned well.” (Ibid., 48)
“My father . . . led an honest God-fearing life, and was a gentle, patient man, friendly to all and thankful to God. He cared little for company and nothing for worldly amusements. He told me every day that we must love God and be honest in our dealings with our neighbours.” (Ibid., 39)
“Oh ye Christian men, pray God for help, for His judgement draweth nigh and His justice will appear. Then shall we behold the innocent blood . . . judged and condemned. These are the slain who lie beneath the altar of God and pray for vengeance to whom the voice of God answereth: ‘Await the full number of the innocent slain, then will I judge.’” (Ibid., 140)
“All worldly rulers in these dangerous times should give good heed that they receive not human misguidance for the Word of God, for God will have nothing added to His Word nor taken away from it. Hear, therefore, these four excellent men: Peter, John, Paul and Mark.” (Ibid., 159)
JEAN, AUGUSTE, DOMINIQUE INGRES
“Have religion in your art. Do not believe that you can produce anything of worth . . . without the elevation of the soul. To see anything beautiful you must see only the sublime. Do not look to the right, to the left, or below. Look only to heaven, and don’t look down toward the earth like pigs who seek in the mud.” (Ingres, 1947, 45)
“If God will give me the mercy to increase the limited contingent of my works until the great departure. May God also make them a little deserving for posterity.” (Ibid., 40)
“I obey Thee, Lord, first for the love I, in all reason, owe Thee; secondly, because Thou can shorten or prolong the lives of men.” (Richter, 1883, P. 237)
"Thou, O God, sell us all good things at the price of labour." (Ibid., 237)
“O admirable Justice, Thou First Mover; Thou hast not wished that any force should fail the order or quality of its necessary effects.” (Ibid., 237)
“The body is subject to heaven and heaven to the Spirit.” (Ibid.,238)
“You think that the body is a wonderful work. In reality this is nothing compared to the soul that inhabits in that structure...It is the work of God.” (Ibid.,238)
“A lie is a terrible thing. Even if it spoke great things about God it would take away from God’s grace.” (Ibid., 242)
“The works of God are appreciated best by other creators.” (Richter, 1977, 387)
Unless Thou show us thine own true way No man can find it; Father! Thou must Lead. (Wordsworth, 1932, 319)
You only are good; Your supreme mercy Help my predicted sinful state, So close to death and so far from God. (Montale, 1976,
SONNET
I would love to want that which I do not want: Between the fire and the heart of ice a veil is present That quenches the fire, so that it prevents The pen in its work, and makes the sheet a liar. I love you with the tongue, and then I pain That love does not reach the heart; nor do I know where It opens the door to the mercy that enters The heart, that casts out every merciless pride. Tear the veil , my Lord, break down the wall That with its hardness slows down The brightness of your light, dark to the world! Send the prophesied light so near to us To your beautiful bride, that in my heart I might burn without doubt, and only you believe. (D’Angelo, 1978, 78)
There is nothing more base and vile on earth such as I am without you I feel and am, (Ibid., 133)
The vanities of life have taken from me The time to contemplate God. (Ibid., 133)
Half the way that rises up to heaven My dear Lord, and to that aim alone To rise I need your help. (Ibid., 133
I speak to You , my Lord, for with all my trials, Without Your blood, blessedness I, man, would never reach. (Ibid., 126)
Only You are the seed of pure and holy works, That grow where You sow them No one can follow you with His own worth Except You show them Your holy ways. (Ibid., 127)
Do not look with eyes of Justice upon my past . . . May only Your blood touch and wash my faults And evermore abound when I get old. (Ibid., 127)
By the cross, by Grace and by diverse trials I am sure. We will be in Heaven. (Ibid., 131)
In Your blood one can comprehend... That without limit your dear gifts are. (Ibid., 131)
My dear Lord, only You I call and supplicate About the vain and blind torment: You only can renew me within and without. (Stone, 1963, 245)
"I believe that I am nearer to God by being humble before this splendour (Nature); by accepting the role I have been given to play in life; by honouring this majesty without self interests, and, above all, without asking for anything being confident that he who has created everything has forgotten nothing." Weaver, 1962, 218)
"I believe, therefore, without seeking to understand. I don't wish to give any name to God, to statues or to paintings. For Him is above everything that is known. Everything that is made for this purpose, is in my humble opinion, a fraud.” (Ibid., 218)
Rubens was a believer. His private correspondence reflects both devoutness and dependence upon the Deity.
“I call the Lord to witness that I have treated him like a brother” (Rubens, 1955, 96).
“I can finish the whole by the end of next January, ( God granting me life and breath)” (Ibid., 99).
“I know of nothing further I can do, and trust my own good conscience and God’s will” (Ibid., 203).
“I pray to God to employ us more successfully in the future, in this and other occasions”(Ibid., 202).
“It rests upon the Lord God to give me life and health to bring the work to a good conclusion”(Ibid., 145).
“I pray also that God will grant you, as well as our beloved, every sort of blessing” (Ibid., 246).
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