If you’re looking for the best Vincent van Gogh quotes then you’re at the right place, read on!
Vincent van Gogh was one of the most prolific artists of the Post impressionism era.
Considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, Vincent Van Gogh lived a short and troubled life. He started painting at the age of 27 and within the last decade of his life produced about 2,100 artworks, most of them in the last two years f his life.
He did this without any formal training, battling mental illness and struggling to make ends meet. He only sold one painting during his lifetime where as now, several of van Gogh’s paintings rank among the most expensive in the world.
Though his tragic death came at the age of 37, the Dutch painter is regarded among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.
In honor of the world-renowned artist, below is my collection of famous Vincent Van Gogh quotes on beauty, life and love that I hope will inspire you.
47 Best Vincent van Gogh Quotes
1. “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent van Gogh
2. “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.” – Vincent van Gogh
3. “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” – Vincent van Gogh
4. “The way to know life is to love many things.” – Vincent van Gogh
5. “Conscience is a man’s compass.” – Vincent van Gogh
6. “The best way to know God is to love many things.” – Vincent van Gogh
7. “If one is master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time, insight into and understanding of many things.” – Vincent van Gogh
8. “The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.” – Vincent van Gogh
9. “For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” – Vincent van Gogh
10. “I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.” – Vincent van Gogh
11. “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.” – Vincent van Gogh
12. “The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others.” – Vincent van Gogh
13. “It is better to be high-spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and all too prudent.” – Vincent van Gogh
14. “Love always brings difficulties, that is true, but the good side of it is that it gives energy.” – Vincent van Gogh
15. “I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God’s help I shall succeed.” – Vincent van Gogh
16. “Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes. Only when I fall do I get up again.” – Vincent van Gogh
17. “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent van Gogh
18. “How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?” – Vincent van Gogh
19. “One must work and dare if one really wants to live.” – Vincent van Gogh
20. “Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model.” – Vincent van Gogh
21. “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 am, which is my life, the power to create.” – Vincent van Gogh
22. “It is looking at things for a long time that ripens you and gives you a deeper meaning.” – Vincent van Gogh
23. “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.” – Vincent van Gogh
24. “Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.” – Vincent van Gogh
25. “I try more and more to be myself, caring relatively little whether people approve or disapprove.” – Vincent van Gogh
26. “I would rather die of passion than of boredom.” – Vincent van Gogh
27. “Exaggerate the essential, leave the obvious vague.” – Vincent van Gogh
28. “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” – Vincent van Gogh
29. “The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right.” – Vincent van Gogh
30. “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.” – Vincent van Gogh
31. “For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.” – Vincent van Gogh
32. “I’ve just kept on ceaselessly painting in order to learn painting.” – Vincent van Gogh
33. “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.” – Vincent van Gogh
34. “Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.” – Vincent van Gogh
35. “Admire more. Most people don’t admire enough.” – Vincent van Gogh
36. “How difficult it is to be simple.” – Vincent van Gogh
37. “I tell you, if one wants to be active, one must not be afraid of going wrong, one must not be afraid of making mistakes now and then. Many people think that they will become good just by doing no harm — but that’s a lie, and you yourself used to call it that. That way lies stagnation, mediocrity.” – Vincent van Gogh
38. “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.” – Vincent van Gogh
39. “If you end up falling in love with someone, it’s because of them. If you end up hating someone, it’s because of you.” – Vincent van Gogh
40. “So often, a visit to a bookshop has cheered me, and reminded me that there are good things in the world.” – Vincent van Gogh
41. “As practice makes perfect, I cannot but make progress; each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward.” – Vincent van Gogh
42. “The victory one would gain after a whole life of work and effort is better than one that is gained sooner.” – Vincent van Gogh
43. “When we are working at a difficult task and strive after a good thing, we are fighting a righteous battle, the direct reward of which is that we are kept from much evil. As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed.” – Vincent van Gogh
44. “Occasionally, in times of worry, I’ve longed to be stylish, but on second thought I say no—just let me be myself—and express rough, yet true things with rough workmanship.” – Vincent van Gogh
45. “Love is eternal – the aspect may change, but not the essence. There is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning. The lamp was there and was a good lamp, but now it is shed.” – Vincent van Gogh
46. “One must spoil as many canvases as one succeeds with.” – Vincent van Gogh
47. “By working hard, old man, I hope to make something good one day. I haven’t yet, but I am pursuing it and fighting for it…” – Vincent van Gogh
Did you find these quotes by Vincent van Gogh inspiring?
What are your favourite Vincent van Gogh quotes? Let me know in the comments and please share this post to help and inspire others.
