“What should we understand by inspiration? It is to be moved by such an excess of sensibility at the sight of an object, that all the faculties of our soul are disturbed to such an extent that we feel it is departing from our body. In this state of excitement we feel superior to ourselves, an exquisite sensation exalts us; a power beyond our control drives us and makes our faculties divine”

That evening Haydon rushed home and 'dashed out the abominable mass', from the picture of the battle he was trying to paint. All night he dozed and dreamed about the marbles and woke at five in the morning in a fever of excitement. Shortly afterwards he obtained a pass to view the marbles on his own account and rushed off--Haydon always rushed--to find another friend. 'Never shall I forget his uncompromising enthusiasm. He strode saying "De Greeks were godes! de Greeks were godes!"... To look back on those hours has been my solace in the bitterest afflictions.' For months afterwards he spent every spare moment of his life drawing in Elgin's chilly museum. He drew for ten or fifteen hours at a time, continuing by candlelight until the porter came to close up at midnight. "Then often have I gone home, cold, benumbed, and damp, my clothes steaming up as I dried them; and so spreading my drawings on the floor and putting a candle on the ground, I have drank my tea at one in the morning with ecstacy as its warmth trickled through my frame, and looked at my picture, and dwelt on my drawings, and pondered on the change of empires, and thought that I had been contemplating what Socrates looked at and Plato saw--and then, lifted up with my own high urgings of soul, I have prayed to God to enlighten my mind to discover the princials of those divine things."

“This unique emotion—the modern scientific version of religious epiphany—is startling in its raw power and purity. I had experienced it previously only once or twice in my life, always at an unexpected moment after months of struggling with an impossible problem. It is reserved for those rare occasions when you, and you alone, know something that no one else knows. The poet Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote that “Euclid alone has looked on beauty bare.” And now Mitchell and I knew exactly what she meant.”

"It seems to me that peace is become indispensable to us; and as all other means of obtaining it have proved ineffectual, I have rather chosen to incur some degree of danger myself, than to suffer the city to continue longer under its present difficulties: I therefore mean, with your permission, to proceed directly to Naples ; conceiving, that as I am the person chiefly aimed at by our enemies, I may, by delivering myself into their hands, perhaps be the means of restoring peace to my fellow-citizens. If, on the other hand, the views of the king extend to the subversion of our liberties, we shall at least be speedily apprized of his intentions; and this knowledge will be more cheaply obtained by the ruin of one, than of all. I am contented to take upon myself this risk, because, as I am the person principally sought after, I shall be a better test of the king's intentions; it being possible that my destruction is all that is aimed at: and again, as I have had more honour and consideration amongst you than my merits could claim, and perhaps more than have in our days been bestowed on any private citizen, I conceive myself more particularly bound than any other person to promote the interest of my country, even with the sacrifice of my life. All that I desire is, that my life and my death, my prosperity and my misfortunes, may contribute towards the welfare of my native place. In the latter case, I doubt not that all my fellow-citizens will unite in defending their liberties to the last extremity, and I trust with the same success as, by the favour of God, our ancestors have heretofore done. These are the sentiments with which I shall proceed; entreating Heaven that I may be enabled on this occasion to perform what every citizen ought at all times to be ready to perform for his country.