Page:Thoughts on art and life.djvu/58

59.

To such an extent does nature delight and abound in variety that among her trees there is not one plant to be found which is exacftly like another; and not only among the plants, but among the boughs, the leaves and the fruits, you will not find one which is exactly similar to an- other.

60.

If nature had made one rule for the quality of limbs, the faces of men would resemble each other to such a degree that it would not be possible to distinguish one from the other; but she has varied the five features of the face in such a way that, although she has made an almost universal rule with regard to their size, she has not done so with regard to their quality, so that each one can be clearly distinguished from the other.

61.

It is an easy matter for him who knows man to arrive at universal knowledge, since all terrestrial animals are similar in regard to their structure, that is to say, in regard to the muscles and bones, and they do not vary save in height and thick- ness; then there are the aquatic animals, and I will not persuade the painter that any rule can be made with regard to these because they are of infinite variety — so are the insects.

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