Vincent and Theo Quotes

“(D)ying is hard, but living is harder still.

—Vincent van Gogh”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“I keep on making what I can't do yet in order to learn to be able to do it.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“What a mystery life is, and love is a mystery within a mystery.
-Vincent Van Gogh”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“How much there is in art that is beautiful, if only one can remember what one has seen, one is never empty or truly lonely, and never alone.
-Vincent Van Gogh”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“It is better to be fervent in spirit, even if one accordingly makes more mistakes, than narrow-minded and overly cautious.

—Vincent van Gogh”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“Who a person becomes later in life, how he lives, how he dies, cloud's people's memories of him, spinning and skewing-distorting-their portraits of him as a child. But we will draw Vincent as clearly as we can using not only impressions but also strong lines, sharp details. A picture will emerge.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures,”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“Uncle Cor once had asked Vincent if he would feel anything for a woman or a girl who was beautiful, 'but I said I would have more feeling for and would prefer to be involved with one who was ugly or old or impoverished or in some way unhappy, who has acquired understanding and a soul through experience of life and trial and error, or sorrow.'
-Vincent Van Gogh”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“But precisely because love is so strong, we are, especially in our youth...usually not strong enough to maintain a straight course.

—Vincent van Gogh”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“The world would not have Vincent without Theo.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“The years between 20 and 30 are full of all sorts of dangers, full of great danger, yea, the danger of sin and death. —Vincent to Theo, early September”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“Spring is slowly coming. It was raw and cold for oh so long. Now it’s becoming lovely, and people, like nature, sometimes thaw out when the sun shines.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“...his paintings are distinctly Vincent:
vivid colors
thick paint
textured fields and skies and flowers and trees and houses
all in blues and oranges and yellows and pinks and
whites and greens and reds.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“As summer turns to fall, Vincent, at twenty-six, is alone.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“He doesn’t talk about his past, or his future. He passionately wants to make something of his life, to make an offering to the world. And to his family. He doesn’t want to make letterheads! How can he be true to himself and keep the bond with his family?”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“After all, we’re in the midst of life—well then, we must fight a good fight—and we must become men. —Vincent to Theo, May 31, 1877”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“Colour expresses something in itself.
-Vincent Van Gogh”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“But sometimes a person who seems easy is one whose calm outside belies a troubled and turbulent inside.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“O Lord, join us intimately to one another and let our love for Thee make that bond ever stronger.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“A famous person can be easier to know—or harder. Easier because there is more material to peruse—letters, journals, diaries, interviews, books, and articles. But we can be misled by others, by misinterpretations, and even by falsehoods.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“Poverty prevents good minds succeeding.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“How much there is in art that is beautiful, if only one can remember what one has seen, one is never empty or truly lonely, and never alone.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“after the first year. But he has decided he doesn’t want to go to school anymore. We don’t know why, but he’s done. Back home in Zundert, he spends his time as he used to when he was a boy. He reads, he walks on the moors, in the fields. He’s content. But he can’t stay home forever. Ma and Pa want Vincent to go out into the world, get a job. It is time for him to support himself, and maybe soon, help the family. Dorus and Anna and Dorus’s brother Vincent, Uncle Cent, will”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it.”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

“A riveting mosaic of exciting true stories… I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN!”
― Deborah Heiligman, Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers