The artist must have the patience of water that eats away the rock…

The artist must have the patience of water that eats away the rock drop by drop.

Source foundPerseverance1900s

In plain words

Talent needs patience. Keep at your work drop by drop, the way water slowly wears away a rock.

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How sure this is: 90% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up: Judith Cladel, Rodin: The Man and His Art (trans. S.K. Star, The Century Co., 1917), p. 7 — Rodin's direct quoted speech.
Work: Rodin: The Man and His Art (Judith Cladel, 1917)
Occasion: 1917 · France · recalling that he drew from early childhood — but the gift was nothing without the will to work at it
Sources checked: gutenberg.orgChecked using claude-fable-5, 22 August 2026Full text fetched and grepped this pass; verbatim, direct quoted speech ('he says'). Preceding clause: 'the gift is nothing without the will to make it worth while.' Shares the water-wears-stone image with Ovid's history_v1 line but makes a distinct claim (the artist's patience) — considered, kept.
en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-fable-5, 22 August 2026Sourced section, discovery seed; cites Cladel 1917 p. 7.