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I must continue to follow the path I take now. If I do nothing, if I study nothing, if I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it - keep going, keep going come what may. But what is your final goal, you may ask. That goal will become clearer, will emerge slowly but surely, much as the rough draught turns into a sketch, and the sketch into a painting through the serious work done on it, through the elaboration of the original vague idea and through the consolidation of the first fleeting and passing thought.

Vincent Willem Van Gogh#5

WorkGrowthPerseveranceClarityVision

About this quote

What does it mean?
He believed he must keep working for the goal to slowly become clear.
In plain terms
Keep going and the goal will appear eventually.
What can you take from it?
Keep moving and clarity will come.

Where it applies

  • feeling lost
  • planning future
  • seeking direction

Putting it to work

  • keep working
  • trust the process
  • stay on path

Questions to consider

  • How do you find direction?
  • Is action enough for clarity?

Another view

Without a direction, persistent action may not lead anywhere meaningful.

More from Vincent Willem Van Gogh

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  2. What has changed is that my life then was less difficult and my future seemingly less gloomy, but as far as my inner self, my way of looking at things and of t…

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  3. Now for the past five years or so, I don't know how long exactly, I have been more or less without permanent employment, wandering from pillar to post. You wil…

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