On Painting:

"A great painter is the servant of his compulsions which are ordered by his psyche and cannot be ignored. He does not wish to puzzle or impress, he is not a virtuoso performer but a creator; his work is not a riddle to be solved but a realm to be explored. It is the capacity to get beyond the self and, without losing hold of it, to delight in objects outside, submitting to being carried onward by forces greater than the tools of art."

- Unknown. These words always hung in Prestopino’s studio.

On Teaching:

One comes into this world to enjoy what is beautiful and what is good, and to do as one pleases, when the things one wants to do are noble, intelligent, and generous. An education which does not cultivate the will, is an education that depraves the mind. It is a teacher's duty to teach the pupil how to will.

It is only by amusing ones' self that one can learn. The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards; and curiosity itself can be vivid and wholesome only in proportion as the mind is contented and happy. Those acquirements crammed by force into the minds of children simply clog and stifle intelligence. In order that knowledge is properly digested, it must have been swallowed with good appetitive.

- Anatole France