Vincent van Gogh

Visual Arts Dutch 1853 – 1890 195 quotes

Starry Night, most influential post-Impressionist

Quotes by Vincent van Gogh

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say 'he feels deeply, he feels tenderly'.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1884

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1886

I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1880

I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1882

I wish they would take me as I am.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

I want to paint men and women with that something of the eternal which the halo used to symbolize, and which we seek to convey by the actual radiance and vibration of our colouring.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1882

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 done well.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1882

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

I wish I could live to see the day when there would be a fellowship of artists, a brotherhood, a society of painters.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1882

I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1888

Don't lose heart, but take courage, and look forward to better times.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1880

I want to do drawings that touch people, that move people to tears.

Letter to Theo van Gogh 1882