"From the age of six I had a penchant for copying
the form of things, and from about fifty, my pictures were frequently
published; but until the age of seventy, nothing that I drew was worth
of notice. At seventy-three years, I was somewhat able to fathom the
growth of plants and trees, and the structure of birds, animals, insects
and fish. Thus when I reach eighty years, I hope to have made increasing
progress, and at ninety to see further into the underlying principles
of things, so that at one hundred years I will have achieved a divine
state in my art, and at one hundred and ten, every dot and every line
will be as though alive. Those of you who live long enough, bear witness
that these words of mine prove not false."
(declared
by Hokusai, as told by Gakyo Rojin Manji)
