Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which Nature herself is animated.
Source: In Artists in Quotation, by Donna Ward La Cour, 1989.
-- Auguste Rodin, (Nov 12 1840-1917), French sculptor; He is best known for his sculptures, e.g., The Thinker, 1880 and Le Baiser, 1886.