Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch painter, born in the Netherlands. It is surprising to know that though he’s now seen as one of the most important artists in history, he remained mostly unrecognised during his lifetime and sold only a handful of paintings before he died.He took painting seriously only in his late twenties, after numerous failed attempts to be an art dealer, a teacher, and a preacher. Over roughly a decade, he produced nearly 900 paintings and more than 1,100 works on paper, including some of his most famous ones like “The Starry Night” and “Sunflowers.”Some lines stay with us even long time after we read them, and keep reappearing in unexpected places, but by then we have already forgotten their original and actual meaning.That’s basically what happened here. It sounds like the kind of thing a tortured artist would speak out in a raw, unguarded moment for years; that’s exactly how it’s been sold to us.But let us dig in to find out what Van Gogh really means to say.
Quote of the day
I would rather die of passion than of boredom.Vincent Van Gogh
What does the quote mean
In October 1884, Van Gogh wrote a letter to his brother Theo in which he wrote these words, admiring the idea that it means to convey. Van Gogh says that he would rather live a life intensely, even if it costs you something, which is better than a life spent going through the motions.Boredom here does not just mean “having nothing to do.” It’s a kind of slow erosion, like just being there, doing the expected thing, feeling nothing, day after day. Passion, on the other hand, is risky. It can wear you out in unexpected ways, disappoint you, even end badly. But at least it means you were awake for your own life and doing what you know you are.
How is this idea relevant today?
This idea fits Van Gogh’s actual life quite well. He gave up financial security, comfort, and conventional success to paint obsessively, often in poverty, often misunderstood, right up until his death.Similarly, even today, boredom hasn’t gone anywhere; it’s just changed its form. A lot of modern life is built around comfort and everyday patterns, like the same commute, the same feed, the same routines that ask very little of us emotionally. Scrolling has replaced staring out the window, but the numbness is similar. At the same time, there’s real pressure to keep things safe, like the “sensible” job, the “practical” choice, the path with the least risk of failure.But the artist encourages us to take some risks and make life interesting, not being reckless but just knowing what you do because it’s genuinely right for you.