How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?
Vincent Van GoghRead
Sometimes I long so much to do landscape, just as one would go for a long walk to refresh oneself, and in all of nature, in trees for instance, I see expression and a soul.
Interpretation
Van Gogh expresses a deep connection with nature and the inspiration it brings to his artistic work.
In this quote, Vincent Van Gogh reflects on his desire to immerse himself in the beauty of landscapes, comparing this experience to taking a refreshing walk. He articulates how he perceives nature, particularly trees, as having an inherent expression and soul, suggesting that the natural world deeply inspires his art and evokes profound emotions.
In practice
A painter shares Van Gogh's quote at an art exhibit to highlight their own love for nature.
How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?
Describing Starry Night: Firmament and planets both disappeared, but the mighty breath which gives life to all things and in which all is bound up remained.
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The world concerns me only in so far as I have a certain debt and duty to it, because I have lived in it for thirty years and owe to it to leave behind some souvenir in the shape of drawings and paintings – not done to please any particular movement, but within which a genuine human sentiment is expressed.
To believe in God for me is to feel that there is a God, not a dead one, or a stuffed one, who with irresistible force urges us towards more loving.
Creative life should be more than preaching to the converted, more than going for a core audience of 100,000 people. It should be taking risks, challenging the readership and having enough faith in one's own talent and craft to take readers on that ride.
Too few journalists become screenwriters. I say to all the would-be screenwriters: Become journalists. And I’ll say to working journalists: Do not stay journalists. Become screenwriters.
For me, electronic music is like cooking: it's a sensual organic activity where you can mix ingredients.
Adornment, what a science! Beauty, what a weapon! Modesty, what elegance!
Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance.
Whether I'm painting or not, I have this overweening interest in humanity. Even if I'm not working, I'm still analyzing people.
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