The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (Penguin Classics) by Vincent Van Gogh (31-Jul-1997) Paperback Quotes

“What is drawing? How does one come to it? It is working through an invisible iron wall that seems to stand between what one feels and what one can do. How is one to get through that wall — since pounding at it is of no use? In my opinion one has to undermine that wall, filing through it steadily and patiently. And there you are — how can one continue such work assiduously without being distracted or diverted, unless one reflects and orders one’s life by principles? And as it is with art so it is with other things. And great things are not something accidental, they must be distinctly willed.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (Penguin Classics) by Vincent Van Gogh (31-Jul-1997) Paperback

“Art demands dogged work, work in spite of everthing and continuous observation. By dogged, I mean in the first place incessant labour, but also not abandoning one's views upon the say-so of this person or that.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (Penguin Classics) by Vincent Van Gogh (31-Jul-1997) Paperback

“We pick up the scent as we wander about, and there is some good in every movement.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (Penguin Classics) by Vincent Van Gogh (31-Jul-1997) Paperback

“Act now as if you were certain and you will not be disappointed.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (Penguin Classics) by Vincent Van Gogh (31-Jul-1997) Paperback

“On the road walks a pilgrim, staff in hand. He has been walking for a good long while already and is very tired. And now he meets a woman, a figure in black that makes one think of St. Paul's word: 'As being sorrowful yet always rejoicing.' That Angel of God has been placed there to encourage the pilgrims and to answer their questions.”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh (Penguin Classics) by Vincent Van Gogh (31-Jul-1997) Paperback