Vincent van Gogh — "When I have a terrible need of - shall I say the word - religion, then I go out …"

"The emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech."

"I do not know myself how I paint it. I sit down with a white board before the spot that strikes me. I look at what is before my eyes, and say to myself, that white board must become something."

"Painting is a faith, and it imposes the duty to disregard public opinion."

"Take our sister Wil, she has neither drunk nor led a wild life, and yet we know a photograph of her in which she has the look of a madwoman."

"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."