The man of faith, of energy, of warmth… steps in and does something.

In this line from an 1884 letter to his brother Theo, Vincent van Gogh expresses the necessity of action. He suggests that in order to begin — whether it be a fresh painting, a new goal, or a sudden challenge — we must overcome our fear and hesitation, and simply do. “Many painters are afraid of the blank canvas,” the artist wrote, “but the blank canvas is afraid of the truly passionate painter who dares — and who has once broken the spell of ‘you can’t.’”