Irving Stone citations

“There are no faster or firmer friendships than those formed between people who love the same books.”

“Talent is cheap; dedication is expensive. It will cost you your life.”

“One should not become an artist because he can, but because he must. It is only for those who would be miserable without it.”

“To try to understand another human being, to grapple for his ultimate depths, that is the most dangerous of human endeavors.”

“You cannot be the good all the time — sometimes it is necessary to get angry.
[Vincent Van Gogh]”

“It's so easy to love. The only hard thing is to be loved.
[Vincent Van Gogh]”

“How difficult it is to be simple.”

“It's freezing up here. What did you use to keep warm?"
"Indignation," said Michelangelo. "Best fuel I know. Never burns out.”

“There's no love without pain.”

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

“Loneliness is a kind of prison.
[Vincent Van Gogh]”

“Each of us has his own alphabet with which to create poetry.”

“He had always loved God. In his darkest hours he cried out, "God did not create us to abandon us.”

“He had been standing still; for an artist, one of the more painful forms of death.”

“You cannot be firmly certain about anything. You can only have enough courage and strength to do what you consider to be right. Maybe it turns out that was wrong, but still you would have done his, and it is most important.”

“[They say I imagine — it is not true — I remember. ]”

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

“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.”

“We… believe that art is religious, because it is one of man's highest aspirations. There is no such thing as pagan art, only good and bad art.”

“[Knowing how to suffer without complaining is the only practical thing, it's the great science, the lesson to learn, the solution to the problem of life. ]”