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Some thoughts, passages, insights,
and quotes
from the letters of Vincent Van Gogh |
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| "It may well seem to you that the sun is shining more brightly and that everything has taken a new charm. That, at any rate, is the inevitable consequence of true love, I believe, and it is a wonderful thing. And I also believe that those who hold that no one thinks clearly when in love are wrong, for it is at just that time that one thinks very clearly indeed and is more energetic than one was before. And love is something eternal, it may change in aspect but not in essence. And there is the same difference between someone who is in love and what he was like before as there is between a lamp that is lit and one that is not. The lamp was there all the time and it was a good lamp, but now it is giving light as well and that is its true function. And one has more peace of mind about many things and so is more likely to do better work." - From a letter to Theo dated March 21-28, 1883. (9.5) |
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"Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum." - July, 1882 (7) |
| "Then, not all at once, but soon enough, I felt that love die, a void, an infinite void taking its place."(7.5) |
| "to sing a lullaby in colors ..." (7) |
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"By
now you will realize that I hope to leave no stone unturned that might
bring me closer to her, and that is my intention: VanGogh
explains the 3 stages of love ...
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"What can we say once the hidden forces of love have been aroused in us? If one has such an encounter, one must expect it to cause a struggle with oneself, because sometimes one literally does not know what to do, or what not to do. But isn't the struggle - and even the mistakes one may make - better, and doesn't it develop us more than if we systematically avoid emotions? Perseverance
is the great thing in love, once it has taken hold of us. That is, if
the love is returned. |
| "It is good to love as may things as one can, for therein lies true strength, and 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 is sure of himself, 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 and does not squander one's love on trivial and insignificant and meaningless things then one will gradually obtain more light and grow stronger." - April 3, 1878 (9) |
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On what it means to paint: "To express the love of two lovers by the marriage of two complimentary 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 is certainly no realistic trompe l'oeil, but something that really exists, isn't it?" - September 3, 1888 (6) |
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"You spoke of disenchantment; no, no, it is true there is a withering and budding in love as in nature, but nothing dies entirely. It is true there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea. And in love, either for a woman or for art, there are times of exhaustion and impotence, but there is no permanent disenchantment. Love ... requires doing things and exerting oneself ... and a sincere and true love is a blessing, I think, though that doesn't prevent occasional hard times." (9) |
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I have a burning desire to push on, and to make progress. But there is another thing spurring me on, namely that Rappard is also working at top speed, more than he used to, and I want to keep up with him, because then we'll get on better together, and can profit more from each other's experience. He has painted much more than I, and has drawn longer, but we are both on just about the same level. I don't try to compete with him as a painter, but I won't let him beat me in drawing. I wish that in the future he and I should keep working in the same direction ... this and many other things give me a strong desire to push on vigorously (8). As in algebra the product of two negatives is a positive, so I hope that the product of failures may be success. - March 3, 1883 |
| "From the very beginning of this love, I have felt that unless I threw myself into it unreservedly, committing myself totally and with all my heart, utterly and forever, I had absolutely no chance, and that even if I do throw myself into it in this way the chance is very slight. But what do I care if my chance is great or small? I mean, should I, can I, take that into account when I am in love? No, no reckoning up, one loves because one loves. Being in love - what a business!" - November 10/11, 1881 (10) |