I am not an adventurer by choice but by fate.

Let me stop there, but my God, how beautiful Shakespeare is, who else is as mysterious as he is; his language and method are like a brush trembling with excitement and ecstasy. But one must...

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

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

There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.

Both she and I have grief enough and trouble enough, but as for regrets – neither of us have any.

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

I have drawn into myself so much that I literally do not see any other people anymore– excepting the peasants with whom I have direct contact, since I paint them.

When we are working at a difficult task and strive after a good thing, we are fighting a righteous battle, the direct reward of which is that we are kept from much evil. As we...

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

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,...

I consciously choose the dog’s path through life. I shall be poor; I shall be a painter…

It may be true that there is no God here, but there must be one not far off, and at such a moment one feels His presence; which comes to the same as saying (and...

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.

…and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?

In would rather die of passion than of boredom.

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.

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

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

The sadness will last forever.

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

There are things which we feel to be good and true, though in the cold light of reason and calculation many things remain incomprehensible and dark. And though the society in which we live considers...

I do not intend to spare myself, not to avoid emotions or difficulties. I don’t care much whether I live a longer or shorter time. the world concerns me only in so far as I...

I dream my painting and I paint my dream.

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

The majority of (painters), because they aren’t colorists, do not see yellow, orange or sulphur in the South (of France) and they call a painter mad if he sees with eyes other than theirs

I am risking my life for my work, and half my reason has gone.

Perhaps it will seem to you that the sunshine is brighter and that everything has a new charm. At least, I believe this is always the result of a deep love, and it is a...

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

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

Now it so happens in the world that opposed to characters of such persons as he there are characters like mine, for instance. I care as little for the world’s opinion as that man cared...

It is a pity that, as one gradually gains experience, one loses one’s youth.

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

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

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

Now since I have seen the ocean with my own eyes, I feel completely how important it is for me to stay in the south and to experience the color which must be carried to...

How to achieve such anomalies, such alterations and re-fashionings of reality so what comes out of it are lies, if you like, but lies that are more than literal truth.

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

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.

It would be difficult for me to express all my thoughts about it. It remains a constant disappointment to me that my drawings are not yet what I want them to be. The difficulties are...

Firmament and planets both disappeared, but the might breath which gives life to all things and in which is bound up remained.

The more ugly, older, more cantankerous, more ill and poorer I become, the more I try to make amends by making my colors more vibrant, more balanced and beaming.

And when I read, and really I do not read so much, only a few authors, – a few men that I discovered by accident – I do this because they look at things in...

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

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

I want to do drawings which touch people…In figure or landscape I should wish to express, not sentimental melancholy, but serious sorrow.

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

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...

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

You can’t be at the pole and the equator at the same time. You must choose your own line, as I hope to do, and it will probably be color.