I will be an artist. I am sure I will. [Vincent Van Gogh]

I do not know a better cure for mental illness than a book.

Art's a staple. Like bread or wine or a warm coat in winter. Those who think it is a luxury have only a fragment of a mind. Man's spirit grows hungry for art in the same way his stomach growls for food.

Bleed me of art, and there won't be enough liquid left in me to spit! [Michelangelo Buonorotti]

Reading has always been the largest and most irreplaceable pleasure for Vincent; reading about other people's successes and failures, joys and sufferings seemed to bury his own failures.

Listen, my friend, all forms that exist in God's universe can be found in the human figure. A man's body and face can tell everything he represents. So how could I ever exhaust my interest in it?

Art is amoral; so is life. For me there are no obscene pictures or books; there are only poorly conceived and poorly executed ones.