Vincent Van Gogh Persevering

It constantly remains a source of disappointment to me that my drawings are not yet what I want them to be. The difficulties are indeed numerous and great, and cannot be overcome at once. To make progress is a kind of miner’s work; it doesn’t advance as quickly as one would like, and as others also expect, but as one stands before such a task, the basic necessities are patience and faithfulness. In fact, I do not think much about the difficulties, because if one thought of them too much one would get stunned or disturbed.

Mr. Vincent Van Gogh, one of the world’s most famous artists, wrote these words in a letter to his brother.

He speaks of perseverance, grit and stick-to-it-iveness — qualities that I hope and believe my students and I learn during genius hour.

5 thoughts on “Vincent Van Gogh Persevering

  1. One step at a time, right, Denise?
    I love this quote!!! Thank you for finding this and sharing it with us!

    1. Joy,
      Thanks for the comment. I re-read it after your comment, and I added the words “and me” to my post. I was thinking of students when I wrote it, but you made me realize I also want learn to have perseverance as I keep slogging through education re-invention.
      Denise

  2. Mrs. Krebs,
    Hi, this is Kelli Francis again from EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama! This is such an awesome quote! I think that most people want to see excellent end results of whatever they are striving to achieve without dedicating their time or giving one hundred percent of their effort. Nothing in life worth having is easily obtained, and I feel the same way that you do. As a future educator, I hope that I can instill a great work ethic inside the minds and spirits of my students. Hopefully, this will be a fire I fuel so strongly that it will never burn out inside my students. Like Van Gogh, I hope to leave behind a legacy that the children in my classroom can benefit from. I wish to not only help them grow intellectually, but challenge them to develop great human qualities, as well. I really enjoyed your post, and I hope to read more from you soon!

  3. Hi Kelli,
    Thanks for stopping by. What you say is true about things worth having don’t come easily. I don’t think everyone believes that; many people have the shortcutter’s there’s-an-app-for-that syndrome.

    Your goals for education are great! I love the image of fueling a fire. We can be there to stoke the flames, right?

    Sincerely,
    Denise

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