95+ Best Vincent Van Gogh Quotes: Exclusive Selection

Vincent Willem van Gogh was one of the world’s greatest artists, with paintings such as ‘Starry Night’ and ‘Sunflowers’. He was a post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the 20th-century art. Powerful Vincent Van Gogh quotes will change how you view the world and inspire you to find beauty in everything.

If you’re searching for most famous art quotes from artists that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of inspirational Frida Kahlo quotes, da vinci quotes, and best quotes on life lessons.

Most Famous Quotes By Vincent Van Gogh

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

It is good to 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 well done. Vincent Van Gogh

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

I dream my painting and I paint my dream. Vincent Willem van Gogh

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

Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all. Vincent Van Gogh

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

And then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough? Vincent Willem van Gogh

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. Vincent Van Gogh

There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. Vincent Van Gogh

Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter’s soul.  Vincent Van Gogh

A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers by only see a wisp of smoke. Vincent Van Gogh

There is no blue without yellow and without orange. Vincent Van Gogh

I don’t know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream. Vincent Van Gogh

One may have a blazing hearth in one’s soul and yet no one ever came to sit by it. Passers by see only a wisp of smoke from the chimney and continue on their way. Vincent Van Gogh

Normality is a paved road It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it. Vincent van Gogh

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. Vincent Van Gogh

If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. Vincent Willem van Gogh

A good picture is equivalent to a good deed. Vincent Van Gogh

I put my heart and soul into my work, and I have lost my mind in the process. Vincent Willem van Gogh

Painting is a faith, and it imposes the duty to disregard public opinion. Vincent Van Gogh

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. Vincent van Gogh

I see drawings and pictures in the poorest of huts and the dirtiest of corners. Vincent Van Gogh

What am I 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 one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. 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. Vincent Van Gogh

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

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

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Vincent Van Gogh

The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others. Vincent Van Gogh

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

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? Vincent Van Gogh

Art is to console those who are broken by life. Vincent van Gogh

I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God’s help I shall succeed. Vincent Van Gogh

I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart. Vincent van Gogh

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

If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. Vincent Van Gogh

I wish they would only take me as I am. Vincent Van Gogh

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

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

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh

The best way to know God is to love many things. Vincent Van Gogh

I try more and more to be myself, caring relatively little whether people approve or disapprove. Vincent Van Gogh

Conscience is a man’s compass. Vincent Van Gogh

I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. Vincent Van Gogh

One must work and dare if one really wants to live. Vincent Van Gogh

The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too. Vincent van Gogh

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. Vincent Van Gogh

It is with the reading of books the same as with looking at pictures; one must, without doubt, without hesitations, with assurance, admire what is beautiful. Vincent Van Gogh

When I have a terrible need of shall I say the word religion. Then I go out and paint the stars. Vincent Van Gogh

I always think that the best way to know God is to love many things. Vincent Van Gogh

I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. Vincent Van Gogh

At present I absolutely want to paint a starry sky. It often seems to me that night is still more richly coloured than the day; having hues of the most intense violets, blues and greens. If only you pay attention to it you will see that certain stars are lemon yellow, others pink or a green, blue and forget me not brilliance. And without my expatiating on this theme it is obvious that putting little white dots on the blue-black is not enough to paint a starry sky. Vincent van Gogh

I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. Vincent Van Gogh

The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right. Vincent van Gogh

I dream of painting and then I paint my dream. Vincent Van Gogh

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

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

So often, a visit to a bookshop has cheered me, and reminded me that there are good things in the world. Vincent van Gogh

The way to know life is to love many things. Vincent Van Gogh

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

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

To suffer without complaint is the only lesson we have to learn in this life. Vincent Willem Van Gogh

Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model. Vincent Van Gogh

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 shedding light too, and that is its real function. And love makes one calmer about many things, and that way, one is more fit for one’s work. Vincent Willem van Gogh

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

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

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

Admire as much as you can. Most people do not admire enough. Vincent Van Gogh

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

I can’t change the fact that my paintings don’t sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture. Vincent Van Gogh

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

If you don’t have a dog at least one there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life. Vincent Van Gogh

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

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

An artist needn’t be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men. Vincent Van Gogh

I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God’s help I shall succeed. Vincent Van Gogh

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

In the end we shall have had enough of cynicism, skepticism and humbug, and we shall want to live more musically. Vincent Van Gogh

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

Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night. Vincent Van Gogh

If boyhood and youth are but vanity, must it not be our ambition to become men? Vincent Van Gogh

When I have a terrible need of shall I say the word religion, then I go out and paint the stars. Vincent van Gogh

It is good to love many things, for therein lies strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done with love is well done. Vincent Van Gogh

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. Vincent Van Gogh

I don’t know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream. Vincent Van Gogh

Whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well. Vincent Van Gogh

There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. Vincent Van Gogh

Let us keep courage and try to be patient and gentle. And let us not mind being eccentric, and make distinction between good and evil. Vincent Van Gogh

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

I confess I do not know why, but looking at the stars always makes me dream. Vincent Van Gogh

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

Just slap anything on when you see a blank canvas staring you in the face like some imbecile. You don’t know how paralyzing that is, that stare of a blank canvas is, which says to the painter, You can’t do a thing. The canvas has an idiotic stare and mesmerizes some painters so much that they turn into idiots themselves. Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of you can’t once and for all. Vincent van Gogh

It is with the reading of books the same as with looking at pictures; one must, without doubt, without hesitations, with assurance, admire what is beautiful. Vincent Van Gogh