
“Refugees have done more for my heart and my spirit than I can ever express in words. ”
Source: Strong Opinions (1973), p. 45
Context: To be quite candid — and what I am going to say now is something I have never said before, and I hope that it provokes a salutary chill — I know more than I can express in words, and the little I can express would not have been expressed, had I not known more.
“Refugees have done more for my heart and my spirit than I can ever express in words. ”
Quote in his letter to brother Theo, from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, May 1890; as quoted in Vincent van Gogh, edited by Alfred H. Barr; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1935 https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_1996_300061887.pdf, (letter 631), p. 26
1890s
version in original Dutch (origineel citaat van Hendrik Werkman, in het Nederlands): Voor mij zou het leven waardeloos zijn als er niet de moderne kunst was en als ik niet de mogelijkheid had om me daarin te uiten op welke manier dan ook, nu ik de wijze waarop ik mij kan uiten langzamerhand heb gevonden.
Quote of Werkman in his letter to August Henkels, June 1942, as cited by Doeke Sijens in H. N. Werkman - Leven & Werk - 1882-1945, ed. A. de Vries, J. van der Spek, D. Sijens, M. Jansen; WBooks, Groninger Museum / Stichting Werkman, 2015 (transl: Fons Heijnsbroek), p. 64
1940's
“I have spent more than half a lifetime trying to express the tragic moment.”
The Guardian (London, 11 August 1988)
Original: Fate molta attenzione nell'esprimere alcune parole. Spesso hanno un forte impatto emotivo su una persona e possono ferirla più di quanto la vostra mente possa immaginare.
Source: prevale.net
Poetic Manifesto, published in the Texas Quarterly (Winter 1961)
Gayle King XM satellite radio program (October 23, 2006)
2007, 2008