The Letters of Vincent van Gogh Quotes

“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”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“There is peace even in the storm”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“To suffer without complaint is the only lesson we have to learn in this life”
― Vincent Willem van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“Admire as much as you can. Most people do not admire enough.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“Don't lose heart if it's very difficult at times, everything will come out all right and nobody can in the beginning do as he wishes.”
― Vincent Willem van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“And when I read, and really I do not read so much, only a few authors, - a few men that I discovered by accident - I do this because they look at things in a broader, milder and more affectionate way than I do, and because they know life better, so that I can learn from them.”
― Vincent Van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“Those who love much, do much and accomplish much, and whatever is done with love is done well.... Love is the best and noblest thing in the human heart, especially when it is tested by life as gold is tested by fire. Happy is he who has loved much, and although he may have wavered and doubted, he has kept that divine spark alive and returned to what was in the beginning and ever shall be.

If only one keeps loving faithfully what is truly worth loving and does not squander one's love on trivial and insignificant and meaningless things then one will gradually obtain more light and grow stronger.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“Seek only light and freedom and do not immerse yourself too deeply in the worldly mire.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it - keep going, keep going come what may.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“The lamps are burning and the starry sky is over it all.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“What preys on my mind is simply this one question: what am I good for, could I not be of service or use in some way?”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“We are surrounded by poetry on all sides...”
― Vincent Van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“There is a great difference between one idler and another idler. There is someone who is an idler out of laziness and lack of character, owing to the baseness of his nature. If you like, you may take me for one of those. Then there is the other kind of idler, the idler despite himself, who is inwardly consumed by a great longing for action who does nothing because his hands are tied, because he is, so to speak, imprisoned somewhere, because he lacks what he needs to be productive, because disastrous circumstances have brought him forcibly to this end. Such a one does not always know what he can do, but he nevertheless instinctively feels, I am good for something! My existence is not without reason! I know that I could be a quite a different person! How can I be of use, how can I be of service? There is something inside me, but what can it be? He is quite another idler. If you like you may take me for one of those.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“How right it is to love flowers and the greenery of pines and ivy and hawthorn hedges; they have been with us from the very beginning.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“We spent our whole lives in unconsous excercise of the art of expressing our thoughts with the help of words”
― Vincent Van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“So what do you want? Does what happens inside show on the outside? There is such a great fire in one’s soul, and yet nobody ever comes to warm themselves there, and passersby see nothing but a little smoke coming from the top of the chimney, and go on their way.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“And the memories of all we have loved stay and come back to us in the evening of our life. They are not dead but sleep, and it is well to gather a treasure of them.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“be careful not to become narrow-minded, or afraid of reading what is well written, quite the contrary, such writings are a source of comfort in life.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“The victory one would gain after a whole life of work and effort is better than one that is gained sooner.”
― Vincent Willem van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“money can be repaid, but not kindness such as yours.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“I can very well do without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, suffering as I am, do without something which is greater than I, which is my life, the power to create.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“So instead of giving in to despair I chose active melancholy, in so far as I was capable of activity, in other words I chose the kind of melancholy that hopes, that strives and that seeks, in preference to the melancholy that despairs numbly and in distress.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“Well, what shall I say; our inward thoughts, do they ever show outwardly? There may be a great fire in our soul, but no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a little bit of smoke coming through the chimney, and pass on their way.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“My great longing is to learn to make those very incorrectnesses, those deviations, remodellings, changes of reality, so that they may become, yes, untruth if you like - but more true than the literal truth.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“I would sooner paint people's eyes than cathedrals, for there is something in the eyes that is lacking in a cathedral - however solemn and impressive it may be. To my mind a man's soul, be it that of a poor beggar or of a streetwalker, is more interesting.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“Drawing is the root of everything!”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“How much sadness there is in life. Still, it won't do to become depressed, one should turn to other things, and the right thing is work, but there are times when one can only find peace of mind in the realization: I, too, shall not be spared by unhappiness.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“To express the love of two lovers by the marriage of two complementary colours, their blending and their contrast, the mysterious vibrations of related tones. To express the thought of a brow by the radiance of a light tone against a dark background. To express hope by some star. Someone's passion by the radiance of the setting sun. That's certainly no realistic trompe l'oeil, but something that really exists, isn't it?”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“For me, life may well continue in solitude. I have never perceived those to whom I have been most attached other than as through a glass, darkly.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

“So don’t study and swot too much, for that makes one sterile. Enjoy yourself too much rather than too little, and don’t take art or love too seriously- there is very little one can do about it”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh