"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced"

Self-doubt often acts as an invisible barrier, discouraging many from even attempting creative pursuits or personal challenges. Vincent Van Gogh’s reflection proposes a radical response to inner criticism: direct action in defiance of internal naysaying. The inner voice saying “you cannot paint” represents the universal skepticism and fear that everyone encounters, especially when considering venturing into unfamiliar or daunting territory.

Rather than yielding to this inner resistance, Van Gogh advocates bold engagement. The prescription is not to argue with the voice, nor to wait until confidence emerges. Instead, action itself becomes the remedy. By initiating the very act your doubt claims you cannot perform, by painting in the face of the assertion “you cannot paint”, you confront and undermine the authority of the self-critical voice. Experience, even if fraught with imperfection, becomes a teacher; skill and assurance emerge not before effort, but as its consequences.

Silencing the voice is not achieved through passivity or avoidance but through the courage to persist. The act of painting, or of doing whatever one is afraid of, builds actual evidence contradicting the dismissive voice within. As you paint, line after tentative line, you prove to yourself through action that it is possible. The inner critic, losing ground to reality, diminishes in power and volume.

Van Gogh’s insight extends beyond art to all areas of life where insecurity and self-judgment manifest. Every hesitated dream, ambition, or goal meets resistance in the form of internal doubt. The advice challenges individuals to treat this resistance not as a stop sign but as a call to action. By doing what we fear we cannot, we change the mind’s narrative, and in time, the silencing of the doubting voice is not just possible, it becomes inevitable.