"I regret very much that I have painted a picture that requires any description ." - When asked for a few lines about The Gulf Stream
"The life I have chosen gives me my full hours of enjoyment for the balance of my life. The Sun will not rise, or set, without my notice, and thanks."
- A letter to his brother Charles
 
"I have had not master; and never shall have any."
 
"I regret very much that I have painted a picture that requires any description ."
- When asked for a few lines about The Gulf Stream
 
"The life that I have chosen gives me my full hours of enjoyment."
 
"You have the sky overhead giving one light; then the reflected light from whatever reflects; then the direct light of the sun; so that, in the blending and suffusing of these several luminations, there is no such thing as a line to be seen anywhere."