Verified idea · wording is a variant
Letter 194 · 29 December 1881
Courage to attempt anything
The familiar “courage to attempt anything” wording is a popular paraphrase. Letter 194 contains the documented question shown as the verified wording below.
Popular wording
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
Documented wording
“What would life be if we didn’t dare to take things in hand?”
Context
What the letter actually discusses
Van Gogh had committed himself to an uncertain artistic life and found a modest studio. The question follows practical concerns about money, work and responsibility; it is not abstract encouragement detached from risk.
Translation note
The popular quotation should not be presented as a verbatim sentence from the scholarly edition. Cite letter 194 when discussing the underlying idea.
- Author
- Vincent van Gogh
- Document
- Letter 194
- Recipient
- Theo van Gogh
- Place
- The Hague
- Date
- 29 December 1881
Primary source
Read the complete letter in the scholarly edition.
The external link opens Vincent van Gogh: The Letters, published by the Van Gogh Museum and Huygens ING.