"Seek only light and freedom and do not immerse yourself too deeply in the worldly mire."

"A good picture is equivalent to a good deed."

"Well, what shall I say; our inward thoughts, do they ever show outwardly? There may be a great fire in our soul, but no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a little bit of smoke coming through the chimney, and pass on their way."

"Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter's soul."

"Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, 'What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.' Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope."

"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 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 faithfully what is truly worth 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."

"As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed."

"I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed."

"I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people."

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

"Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it."

"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, which is my life, the power to create."

"How right it is to love flowers and the greenery of pines and ivy and hawthorn hedges, they have been with us from the very beginning."

"There may be a great fire in our hearts, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke."

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."

"The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic that to love others."

"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process."

"Love always brings difficulties, that is true, but the good side of it is that it gives energy."

"There is but one Paris and however hard living may be here, and if it became worse and harder even-the French air clears up the brain and does good-a world of good."

"What I am in the eyes of most people - a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person - somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then - even if that were absolutely true, then I should like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart."

"To suffer without complaint is the only lesson we have to learn in this life."

"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process."

"But I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things."

"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."

"I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed."

"It is looking at things for a long time that ripens you and gives you a deeper meaning."

"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."

"As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed."

"Even the knowledge of my own fallibility cannot keep me from making mistakes. Only when I fall do I get up again."

"And the memories of all we have loved stay and come back to us in the evening of our life. They are not dead but sleep, and it is well to gather a treasure of them."

"Still there is a calm pure harmony and music inside of me."

"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."

"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."

"How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?"

"One may have a blazing hearth in one's soul and yet no one ever comes to sit by it."

"I often think of you all, one cannot do what one wants in life. The more you feel attached to a spot, the more ruthlessly you are compelled to leave it, but the memories remain, and one remembers - as in a looking glass, darkly - one's absent friends."

"Those Dutchmen had hardly any imagination or fantasy, but their good taste and their scientific knowledge of composition were enormous."

"Only when I fall do I get up again."

"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day."

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."

"I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream."

"You can live to be old or young, but you'll always have moments when you lose your head."

"The sadness will last forever."

"I dream my painting and then I paint my dream."

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

"As a painter I shall never signify anything of importance. I feel it absolutely."

"It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality is more important than the feeling for pictures."

"It is only right and proper to be moved by the Bible, but present-day reality has so strong a hold over us that even when we try to imagine the past the minor events in our lives immediately wrench us out of our musings, and our own adventures throw us back irrevocably upon our personal feelings-joy, boredom, suffering, anger, or a smile."

"I am seeking I am striving I am in it with all my heart."

"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"