Letter from Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh (23 October 1888) ... 23 October 1888
My dear Vincent,
It is very distressing to me to learn that you are not
feeling well. 1 It is to be supposed that you have
worked too hard, and consequently have forgotten to take proper
care of your body. I am glad that your letter arrived today,
for within a very short time I should have gone off to
Brussels, in which case you would have had to wait at least two
more days. What a financier you are! What causes me so much
grief is that, notwithstanding all that, you are always so
miserably hard up, because you cannot refrain from doing all
kinds of things for others. I should greatly like to see you
more egotistic, at least until your budget balances better.
Letter from Theo van Gogh to Vincent van Gogh (27 October 1888) ... obstacle which prevented him from coming.
Now I see from your letter that you are unwell, and that you
are worrying a good deal. I want to tell you something once and
for all. I look upon it all as though the question of money and
the sale of pictures and the whole financial side did not
exist, or rather existed as a disease.
As it is certain that money question will not disappear
before a formidable revolution or probably a series of
revolutions has come about, it is necessary to treat it like
smallpox if one has caught it. That is to say, take the
required precautions against accidents which may result, but
don't bother your head about it. You have been thinking about
it far too much lately, and although there may be no symptoms
of an accident, you are suffering under it. By accidents I mean
misery, and in order to avoid arriving at this pass, it is
necessary to take things easy, and not to commit excesses, and
to try to escape the other diseases as much as possible. You
...
