Vincent van Gogh Quotes

I dream my painting and I paint my dream. I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say 'he feels deeply, he feels tenderly'. There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. I try more and more to be myself, caring relatively little whether people approve or disapprove. I don't know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream. I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart. Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it. It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done. What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process. Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all. A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-by only see a wisp of smoke. If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning. The sadness will last forever. The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. Art is to console those who are broken by life. Close friends are truly life's treasures. Sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves. With gentle honesty, they are there to guide and support us, to share our laughter and our tears. Their presence reminds us that we are never really alone. At present I absolutely want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that night is still more richly coloured than the day; having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens. If only you pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon-yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget-me-not brilliance. And without my expatiating on this theme it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky. The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too. So often, a visit to a bookshop has cheered me, and reminded me that there are good things in the world. I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things. Exaggerate the essential, leave the obvious vague. I wish they would take me as I am. Someday death will take us to another star. The sunflower is mine, in a way Your profession is not what brings home your weekly paycheck, your profession is what you're put here on earth to do, with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling. To suffer without complaint is the only lesson we have to learn in this life. There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke. There is peace even in the storm The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right. It is looking at things for a long time that ripens you and gives you a deeper meaning. It is with the reading of books the same as with looking at pictures; one must, without doubt, without hesitations, with assurance, admire what is beautiful. I can't change the fact that my paintings don't sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture. Admire as much as you can. Most people do not admire enough. In the end we shall have had enough of cynicism, skepticism and humbug, and we shall want to live more musically. Only when I fall do I get up again. In spite of everything, I shall rise again; I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing. I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed. I will not live without love. The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting.

Vincent van Gogh

1853 - 1890