investigating van gogh

I have started reading Van Gogh's letters to his brother, Theo, published in the book Vincent Van Gogh, A Self Portrait in Art and Letters

Here are a few excerpts I have found inspiring thus far:

on adversity

What molt is for birds, the time when they change their plumage, is what adversity or misfortune is for us humans, a difficult time.  You can stay in the molting period, you can also come out of it like a new man, but nevertheless this is not something to be done in public...which is why you need to hide away.

on soul

There is such a great fire in one's soul, and yet nobody ever comes to warm themselves there, and passerby see nothing but a little smoke coming from the top of the chimney...So then, what to do?  Stoke up that fire inside...wait patiently

on discipline

If I have any self-confidence about my work, it is because too much effort is spent on it to believe that nothing could be gained by it, or that it would be in vain.  And again, I just shrug off the generalities most art critics increasingly appear to lapse into.

on nature

Sooner or later the feeling and love for nature will always find a response in people who are interested in art.  It is a painter's duty to immerse himself totally in nature and use all his intelligence and express his feelings in his work

and his appreciation for reading

If you now can forgive a man for devoting himself to a thorough study of pictures, you must admit that a love of books is as sacred as a love of Rembrandt, and I even think that the two complement each other.

on vision

I want to get to a stage where it is said of my work: this man feels deeply, and this man is sensitive...This is my ambition, which in spite of everything is based less on anger than on love, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion.

on life purpose

In my view I am often immensely rich, not in money, but rich because I have found my metier, something I can devote myself to heart and soul and that gives inspiration and meaning to my life.