Van Gogh's Heartfelt Words Regarding How To Live
(Written with a ray from on high and a finger of fire)
Amsterdam, April 1878
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| Van Gogh's Sunflowers, taken by Jill Saur, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art |
Van Gogh was considered to be a literary genius. Those who know me, know that Van Gogh is my favorite artist. His struggles caused him to dig down deep and draw from the profound well of inspiration derived from his faith in God. His heartfelt letters often move me to tears. - Jill Saur
Dear Theo,
I’ve
been thinking about what we discussed, and I couldn’t help thinking of the
words ‘we are today what we were yesterday’. This isn’t to say that one must
stand still and ought not try to develop oneself; on the contrary, there are
compelling reasons to do so and think so.
But
in order to remain faithful to those words one may not retreat and, once one
has started to see things with a clear and trusting eye, one ought not to
abandon or deviate from that.
They
who said ‘we are today what we were yesterday’, those were honnêtes homes, which
is apparent from the constitution they drew up, which will remain for all time
and of which it has rightly been said that it was written with a ray from on
high and a finger of fire. It is good to be a ‘honnête home,’ and truly to
endeavor to become one both almost and altogether, and one does well if one
believes that being an ‘homme intérieur et spirituel’ is part of it.
If
one only knew for certain that one belonged among them, one would always go
one’s way, calmly and collectedly, never doubting that things would turn out
well. There was once a man who went into a church one day and asked, can it be
that my zeal has deceived me, that I have turned down the wrong path and have
gone about things the wrong way, oh, if only I could rid myself of this
uncertainty and have the firm conviction that I will eventually overcome and
succeed. And then a voice answered him, and if you knew that for certain,
what would you do? Act now as though you knew it for certain and thou shalt not
be ashamed. Then the man went on his
way, not faithless but believing, and returned to his work, no longer doubting
or wavering.
As
far as being an homme intérieur et spirituel is concerned,
couldn’t one develop that in oneself through knowledge of history in general
and of certain people of all eras in particular, from biblical times to the
Revolution and from The odyssey to the books of Dickens’ and Michelet? And
couldn’t one learn something from the work of the likes of Rembrandt or from
Weeds by Breton or The four times of the day by Millet or Saying grace by
Degroix or, Brion or The conscript by Degroux, or his Apothecary, or
The large oaks by Dupre’ or even the mills and sand flats by Michel?
It’s
by persevering in those ideas and things that one at last becomes thoroughly
leavened with a good leaven, that of sorrowful yet always rejoicing, and
which will become apparent when the time of fruitfulness is come in our lives,
the fruitfulness of good works.
The
ray from on high doesn’t always shine on us, and is sometimes behind the
clouds, and without that light a person cannot live and is worth nothing and
can do nothing good, and anyone who maintains that one can live without faith
in that higher light and doesn’t worry about attaining it will end up being
disappointed.
We’ve
talked quite a lot about what we feel to be our duty and how we should arrive
at something good, and we rightly came to the conclusion that first of all our
goal must be to find a certain position and a profession to which we can devote
ourselves entirely.
And
I think that we also agreed on this point, namely that one must pay special
attention to the end, and that a victory achieved after lifelong work and
effort is better than one achieved more quickly.
He
who lives uprightly and experiences true difficulty and disappointment and is
nonetheless undefeated by it is worth more than someone who prospers and knows
nothing but relative good fortune. For who are they, those in whom one most
clearly notices something higher? — It is those to whom the words ‘workers,
your life is sad, workers, you suffer in life, workers, you are blessed’ are
applicable, it is those who show the signs of ‘bearing a whole life of
strife and work without giving way’. It is good to try and become thus.
So
we go on our way ‘undefessi favente Deo’.
As
far as I’m concerned, I must become a good minister, who has something to say
that is good and can be useful in the world, and perhaps it’s good after all
that I have a relatively long time of preparation and become secure in a firm
conviction before I’m called upon to speak about it to others. It is wise,
before one begins that work, to gather together a wealth of things that could
benefit others.
Do
let us go on quietly, examining all things and holding fast to that which is
good, and trying always to learn more that is useful, and gaining more
experience.
Woe-spiritedness
is quite a good thing to have, if only one writes it as two words, woe is
in all people, everyone has reason enough for it, but one must also have spirit,
the more the better, and it is good to be someone who never despairs.
If
we but try to live uprightly, then we shall be all right, even though we shall
inevitably experience true sorrow and genuine disappointments, and also
probably make real mistakes and do wrong things, but it’s certainly true that
it is better to be fervent in spirit, even if one accordingly makes more
mistakes, than narrow-minded and overly cautious. It is good to love as much as
one can, for therein lies true strength, and he who loves much does much and is
capable of much, and that which is done with love is well done. If one is moved
by some book or other, for instance, just to mention something, ‘The swallow,
the lark, the nightingale’, The longing for autumn, ‘From here I see a
lady’, ‘Never this unique little village’ by Michelet , it’s because it’s
written from the heart in simplicity and with poverty of spirit.
If
one were to say but few words, though ones with meaning, one would do better
than to say many that were only empty sounds, and just as easy to utter as they
were of little use.
Love
is the best and most noble thing in the human heart, especially when it has
been tried and tested in life like gold in the fire, happy is he and
strong in himself who has loved much and, even if he has wavered and doubted,
has kept that divine fire and has returned to that which was in the beginning and
shall never die. If only one continues to love faithfully that which is verily
worthy of love, and does not squander his love on truly trivial and
insignificant and faint-hearted things, then one will gradually become more
enlightened and stronger. The sooner one seeks to become competent in a certain
position and in a certain profession, and adopts a fairly independent way of
thinking and acting, and the more one observes fixed rules, the stronger one’s
character becomes, and yet that doesn’t mean that one has to become
narrow-minded.
It
is wise to do that, for life is but short and time passes quickly. If one is
competent in one thing and understands one thing
well, one gains at the same time insight into and knowledge of many other
things into the bargain.
It’s
sometimes good to go about much in the world and to be among people, and at
times one is actually obliged and called upon to do so, or it can be one
way of ‘throwing oneself into one’s work unreservedly and with all one’s
might’, but he who actually goes quietly about his work, alone, preferring to
have but very few friends, goes the most safely among people and in the world.
One should never trust it when one is without difficulties or some worry or
obstacle, and one shouldn’t make things too easy for oneself. Even in the most
cultured circles and the best surroundings and circumstances, one should retain
something of the original nature of a Robinson Crusoe or a savage, for
otherwise one hath not root in himself, and never let the fire in his soul
go out but keep it going, there will always be a time when it will come in
useful. And whosoever continues to hold fast to poverty for himself, and
embraces it, possesses a great treasure and will always hear the voice of his
conscience speaking clearly. Whosoever hears and follows the voice in his
innermost being, which is God’s best gift, ultimately finds therein a
friend and is never alone.
Happy
is he who has faith in God, for he shall overcome all of life’s difficulties in
the end, though it be not without pain and sorrow. One cannot do better than to
hold fast to the thought of God and endeavor to learn more of Him, amidst
everything, in all circumstances, in all places and at all times; one can do
this with the Bible as with all other things. It is good to go on believing
that everything is miraculous, more so than one can comprehend, for that is the
truth, it is good to remain sensitive and lowly and meek in heart, even
though one sometimes has to hide that feeling, because that is often necessary,
it is good to be very knowledgeable about the things that are hidden from the
wise and prudent of the world but that are revealed as though by nature to the
poor and simple, to women and babes. For what can one learn that is better
than that which God has put by nature into every human soul, that which in the
depths of every soul lives and loves, hopes and believes, unless one
should willfully destroy it? There, in that, is the need for nothing less than
the boundless and miraculous, and a man does well if he is satisfied with
nothing less and doesn’t feel at home until he has acquired it.
That
is the avowal that all great men have expressed in their works, all who have
thought a little more deeply and have sought and worked a little harder and have
loved more than others, who have launched out into the deep of the sea of life.
Launching out into the deep is what we too must do if we want to catch
anything, and if it sometimes happens that we have to work the whole night and
catch nothing, then it is good not to give up after all but to let down the
nets again at dawn.
So
let us simply go on quietly, each his own way, always following the light
‘sursum corda’, and as such who know that we are what others are and that
others are what we are, and that it is good to have love one to another namely of the best kind, that believeth all
things and hopes all things, endures all things and never fails.
And
not troubling ourselves too much if we have shortcomings, for he who has none
has a shortcoming nonetheless, namely that he has none, and he who thinks he is
perfectly wise would do well to start over from the beginning and become a
fool.
We
are today what we were yesterday,
namely ‘honnêtes hommes’, but ones who must be tried with the fire
of life to be innerly strengthened and confirmed in that which they are by
nature through the grace of God.
May
it be so with us, old boy, and I wish you well on your way, and God be with you
in all things, and make you succeed at that, that is what is wished
you with a hearty handshake at your departure by
Your
most loving brother,
Vincent
I hope you've enjoyed this beautiful letter by Vincent. - Jill Saur (www.JillSaur.com)
