Sunday, May 11, 2008

Vincent van Gogh on Tango :: What if?

vanGoghPortraitDrGachet

Someone recently told me about a quote attributed to him...something like...

"Treat a person as he is, and he will never change. Treat a person as he ought to/might be, and they will become that person..."

Anyway, I was googling around looking for it, and ran across some other quotes of his that seemed apropos to tango...


Original van Gogh:
“By working hard, old man, I hope to make something good one day. I haven't yet, but I am pursuing it and fighting for it . . . .”
Tango re-write:
"By working hard, old man, I hope to make something good of my tango one day. I haven't yet, but I am pursuing it and fighting for it..."



Original van Gogh:
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
Tango re-write:
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt tango?"


Original van Gogh:
“If you hear a voice within you saying, 'You are not a painter,' then by all means paint... and that voice will be silenced.”
Tango re-write:
"If you hear a voice within you saying, 'You are not a tango dancer,' then by all means dance tango... and that voice will be silenced.”


Original van Gogh:
“I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.”
Tango re-write:
"I dream of dancing tango and then I dance my dream."


Original van Gogh:
“How difficult it is to be simple.”
Tango re-write:
"How difficult it is to be simple in tango."


Original van Gogh:
"Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter's soul.”
Tango re-write:
"Tango has a life of its own that derives from the dancer's souls."


Original van Gogh:
"One must work and dare if one really wants to live.”
Tango re-write:
"One must work and dare to dance tango if one really wants to live."


Original van Gogh:
"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.”
Tango re-write:
"I often think that the night, with tango, is more alive and more richly colored than the day."


Stuck in there with the van Gogh quotes for some reason...from Dr. Seuss...

"Don't cry because it is over...smile because it happened."



Last one:
“I can't change the fact that my paintings don't sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture.”

The painting above, "Portrait of Dr. Gachet", sold for $82 million...

1 comment:

La Nuit Blanche said...

oh alex!

i really liked this post. and a fun idea, almost like a game. :-D