“I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.”
Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)
“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
Attributed in Civilization's Quotations : Life's Ideal (2002) by Richard Alan Krieger, p. 132, and many places on the internet, this was actually stated by Vincent van Gogh in a letter to Anthon van Rappard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthon_van_Rappard (18 August 1885) http://vangoghletters.org/vg/letters/let528/letter.html, also rendered "I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it." <br class="br">Misattributed <br class="br">Variant: I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.
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Pablo Picasso128
Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stag… 1881–1973Related quotes
“i am always doing things i can't do. that's how i get to do them.”
Alicia Witt (1975) American actress
Bio note
Twitter tweets
“Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught,”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In debate http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1952/nov/04/debate-on-the-address in the House of Commons, 4 Nov 1952 <br class="br">Post-war years (1945–1955) <br class="br">Variant: Personally, I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. <br class="br">Context: Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught, but I shall not attempt to foreshadow the proposals which will be brought before the House tomorrow. Today it will be sufficient and appropriate to deal with the obvious difficulties and confusion of the situation as we found it on taking office.
Hillel the Elder (-112–9 BC) Mishnah rabbi
Quoted by Jan Lundius, in Does WFP Deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?, Inter Press Service News Agency, (December 2020)
“Whatever you do, wherever you may be, ever bear this in mind that I am always of everything you do”
Sai Baba of Shirdi (1836–1918) Hindu and muslim saint
Saying stated to his disciples
Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909) American author and Unitarian clergyman
Statement published in A Year of Beautiful Thoughts (1902) by Jeanie Ashley Bates Greenough, p. 172, Third statement for June 11. This has often been misattributed to Helen Keller in some published works since at least 1980, perhaps because she somewhere quoted it.
Variant:
I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
The Book of Good Cheer : A Little Bundle of Cheery Thoughts (1909) by Edwin Osgood Grover, p. 28; also in Masterpieces of Religious Verse (1948) by James Dalton Morrison, p. 416, where it is titled "Lend a Hand"
Helen Keller (1880–1968) American author and political activist
Edward Everett Hale in a statement published in A Year of Beautiful Thoughts (1902) by Jeanie Ashley Bates Greenough, p. 172; <!-- and perhaps as early as an edition of Ten Times One is Ten (1870) by Hale--> This has been misattributed to Keller in published works since at least 1980. Keller and Hale were good friends, and letters to Hale can be found in her youthful autobiography The Story of My Life (1902). In 1910 Keller dedicated her poem "The Song of the Stone Wall" to Hale who had died in 1909.
Misattributed
Variant: I am only one, but I am one. I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do.
Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909) American author and Unitarian clergyman
Statement published in A Year of Beautiful Thoughts (1902) by Jeanie Ashley Bates Greenough, p. 172, Third statement for June 11. This has often been misattributed to Helen Keller in some published works since at least 1980, perhaps because she somewhere quoted it.
Variant:
I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
The Book of Good Cheer : A Little Bundle of Cheery Thoughts (1909) by Edwin Osgood Grover, p. 28; also in Masterpieces of Religious Verse (1948) by James Dalton Morrison, p. 416, where it is titled "Lend a Hand"
Variant: I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.