10 Truth Bombs from Vincent Van Gogh

In the letters that Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo, you will find some of the best Failure Friendly advice ever written. Below are my top ten favourites quotes from the Impressionist artist. It’s clear that Van Gogh felt joy and pain intensely, that he loved nature and people immensely, that he looked fear in the face often in order to create freely and was generous in the vulnerability he shared. 

“The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right.”

“If you hear a voice within you stay, ‘You cannot paint.’ Then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced”

“I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.”

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

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

“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.”

“I cannot change the face that my painting do not sell. But the time will come when people will recognise that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.”

“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow.”

“I would rather die of passion than of boredom.”

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

Feel deeply and share generously.  

Your Friend,

Buzzy

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