Mark Twain? Isaac Asimov? Vincent van Gogh? Harold S. Kushner? Harold S. Kushner? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A famous author once commented on the anxiety induced by the contemplation of mortality. Here are two versions: (1) Annihilation has no terrors for me, because I have already tried it before I was born—a hundred million …
Tag Archives: Vincent van Gogh
Quote Origin: There May Be a Great Fire In Our Soul, Yet No One Ever Comes To Warm Themselves At It. Passers-By See Only a Wisp of Smoke from a Chimney
Vincent van Gogh? Joni Mitchell? Justin Lee Collins? Nellie Hermann? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A personal website enables an artist to achieve inexpensive worldwide distribution of a large digital portfolio. Yet, the greatest challenge for an artist today is convincing others to pay attention to their artworks. In the late nineteenth century an artist …
Quote Origin: Normality is a Well-Paved Street; It Is Good for Walking, But No Flowers Will Grow There
Vincent van Gogh? Sarah Harding? Anonymous? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Conforming to social norms is much easier than following a divergent, colorful, and eccentric pathway through life. This notion has been expressed as follows: Normality is a paved road; it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it. The famous Dutch painter Vincent …
I Am Always Doing What I Can’t Do Yet in Order To Learn How To Do It
Pablo Picasso? Vincent van Gogh? Fred Beerstein? Dear Quote Investigator: You have the following inspirational saying on the website: Only one who attempts the absurd is capable of achieving the impossible. The above remark reminded me of a statement that has been attributed to two very different painters: Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh: I …
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I Would Rather Die of Passion than of Boredom
Vincent van Gogh? Émile Zola? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh has been credited with the following fervent statement: I would rather die of passion than of boredom. Surprisingly, this remark has also been ascribed to the prominent French novelist Émile Zola. Would you please elucidate this topic? Quote Investigator: …
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The Great Doesn’t Happen Through Impulse Alone, and Is a Succession of Little Things That Are Brought Together
Vincent van Gogh? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Several self-help books contain a statement about achieving magnificent results via an incremental approach. The saying is attributed to the brilliant and original painter Vincent van Gogh: Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. And great things are not …
There’s Nothing More Genuinely Artistic Than to Love People
Vincent van Gogh? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Vincent van Gogh was the boldest and most innovative painter of the 19th-century in my opinion. Here are two versions of a poignant statement that has been attributed to him: There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. There’s nothing more genuinely artistic than to love …
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