Quote Origin: If You Hear a Voice Within You Say, ‘You Cannot Paint,’ Then Paint All the More, and That Voice Will Be Silenced

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Vincent van Gogh? Brenda Ueland? Apocryphal?

The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

Question for Quote Investigator: A famous painter exhorted aspiring artists with the following encouraging words:

If you hear a voice within you saying: “you are no painter,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

This remark has been credited to Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Is this a genuine quotation? Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: The Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam maintains a valuable database of letters which is accessible via the vangoghletters.org website. In October 1883 Vincent van Gogh sent a letter to his brother Theo which contained a version of the quotation in Dutch. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

Als iets in U zelf zegt “gij zijt geen schilder” – SCHILDER DAN JUIST kerel, en die stem bedaart ook, maar slechts daardoor. – Wie als hij dat voelt gaat naar vrienden en zijn nood klaagt, verliest iets van zijn mannelijkheid, iets van het beste wat in hem is. – Uw vrienden kunnen slechts zijn dezulken die zelf daartegen vechten, door eigen voorbeeld van actie het active in U opwekken.

Here is one possible translation into English:

If something in you yourself says ‘you aren’t a painter’ — IT’S THEN THAT YOU SHOULD PAINT, old chap, and that voice will be silenced too, but only through the act of painting itself. Anyone who, feeling this, turns to friends to bemoan his plight loses a measure of his manliness — something of the very best within him. Your friends can only be those who are themselves fighting that same battle, awakening the active spirit within you through the example of their own deeds.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

Within the same letter from 1883 Vincent van Gogh wrote positively about the art world. The following excerpt in Dutch is followed by an English rendering:

Wat er ook zij van de kunstwereld, het is geen rotten boel. Integendeel het is beter & beter geworden – en misschien is wel reeds het hoogste toppunt bereikt maar wij zijn daar nog in elk geval heel digt bij en zoolang gij en ik leven, al werden we 100 jaar oud, zal er een zekere animo van ’t echte soort zijn.– Dus wil men schilderen – handen uit de mouwen gestoken.

Whatever one may think of the art world, it is not a rotten business. On the contrary, it has gone from strength to strength—and perhaps the absolute peak has already been reached, but we are certainly still very close to it, and as long as you and I are alive—even if we live to be a hundred—there will be a certain genuine enthusiasm. So, if one wants to paint—roll up one’s sleeves and get to work.

In 1927 “The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh to His Brother: 1872-1886” appeared. This compilation contained the following English translation of the passage containing the quotation:2

If you hear a voice within you saying: “you are no painter,” then paint by all means, lad, and that voice will be silenced, but only by working; he who, when he feels thus, goes to friends and tells his troubles, loses part of his manliness, part of the best that is in him; your friends can only be those who themselves struggle against it, who raise your activity by their own example of action.

In 1958 the New York Graphic Society published “The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh” which included another translation:3

If you hear a voice within you saying, “You are not a painter,” then by all means paint, boy, and that voice will be silenced, but only by working. He who goes to friends and tells his troubles when he feels like that loses part of his manliness, part of the best that’s in him; your friends can only be those who themselves struggle against it, who raise your activity by their own example of action.

In 1966 Elizabeth Gilmore Holt published “From the Classicists to the Impressionists: Art and Architecture in the 19th Century”. This book reprinted the 1958 translation of Van Gogh’s letter.4

U.S. journalist and author Brenda Ueland published an influential book about writing titled “If You Want to Write”. The second edition in 1983 contained the following:5

When discouraged, remember what Van Gogh said: “If you hear a voice within you saying: You are no painter, then paint by all means, lad, and that voice will be silenced, but only by working.”

In conclusion, Vincent van Gogh deserves credit for this quotation. He wrote the statement in Dutch in October 1883 while communicating with his brother Theo. A few different English translations are circulating.

Image Notes: Public domain image of the painting “The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Shantha Mohan whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.

  1. Website: Van Gogh Museum of Amsterdam: Vincent van Gogh Letters, Letter number: 400, Letter from: Vincent van Gogh, Letter to: Theo van Gogh, Date: October 28, 1883, Website description: Van Gogh Letters Project database of the Van Gogh Museum. (Accessed vangoghletters.org on June 24, 2026) link ↩︎
  2. 1927, The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh to His Brother: 1872-1886, Volume 2 of 2, Section: Drenthe: September to November 1883, Letter 336, Letter from: Vincent van Gogh, Letter to: Theo van Gogh, Start Page 329, Quote Page 332, Constable & Company, London, England. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  3. 1958, The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh, Volume 2, Section: Drenthe: September to November 1883, Letter Number 336, Letter from: Vincent van Gogh, Letter to: Theo van Gogh, Start Page 185, Quote Page 188, New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, Connecticut. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  4. 1966, From the Classicists to the Impressionists: Art and Architecture in the 19th Century, Series: A Documentary History of Art, Volume 3, Selected and edited by Elizabeth Gilmore Holt, Section 6: Search for Form and Symbols, Subsection: Vincent Van Gogh, Letter To Theo van Gogh, Number 336, Start Page 473, Quote Page 476, Anchor Books: Doubleday and Company, Garden City, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  5. 1984 (1983 Copyright), If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland, Second Edition, Chapter 18: He whose face gives no light shall never become a star—William Blake, Quote Page 178, The Schubert Club, Saint Paul, Minnesota. (Verified with scans) ↩︎