A Note from Vincent van Gogh

What am I in the eyes of most people —
a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person —
somebody who has no position in society and will never have;
in short, the lowest of the low.

All right, then —
even if that were absolutely true,
then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric,
such a nobody, has in his heart.

That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything,
based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion.
Though I am often in the depths of misery,
there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me.

I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages,
in the dirtiest corners.
And my mind is driven towards these things
with an irresistible momentum.

~ Vincent van Gogh

From a letter to his brother Theo, July 21, 1882.
Painting by Vincent van Gogh, “The Mulberry Tree”