Letter from Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo in 1883. These are deeply beautiful fragments from a great mind.

For myself I have a simple method, I go out into the open air and paint what strikes me, breathe the fragrant air of the heath deeply, and believe that after a while I shall become fresher, newer, better.

So, boy, do come and paint with me on the heath, in the potato field, come and walk with me behind the plough and the shepherd — come and sit with me, looking into the fire — let the storm that blows across the heath blow through you.

Break loose from your bonds. I do not know the future, in what way it might be different if everything should go smoothly with us, but I cannot speak differently: don’t seek it in Paris, don’t seek it in America; it is always the same, forever and ever exactly the same. Make a thorough change indeed, try the heath.