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Who really said it

I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it

Not Pablo Picasso — actually Vincent van Gogh Vincent van Gogh 1853–1890 · Dutch Post-Impressionist painter
Disputed Rights unconfirmed

The thought is genuinely van Gogh’s: in a letter to fellow painter Anthon van Rappard, written at Nuenen on or about 18 August 1885, he wrote — in the Van Gogh Museum’s translation — “But I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it.” The polished English wording popularly pinned on Picasso is a looser later rendering of that Dutch sentence; the Picasso credit itself has no documented basis and first appears in 1995, decades after his death.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it” Vincent van Gogh, letter to Anthon van Rappard, c. 18 August 1885 (misattributed to Pablo Picasso)

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Pablo Picasso. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

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In context

Evoking the world of Vincent van Gogh — Dutch Post-Impressionist painter. Theme: "I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where the line really comes from

Author
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)
Source
Letter 528, to Anthon van Rappard
Written
Nuenen, on or about 18 August 1885
Popular wording
A later, looser English variant — not the canonical translation

But I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it.

The Van Gogh Museum’s modern translation of the Dutch original. The widely shared “I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it” is a smoother paraphrase of this same sentence.

Read letter 528 at the Van Gogh Museum letters archive

How we verified this

The underlying thought comes from van Gogh’s 1885 Dutch letter, whose original text has long been in the public domain. But the exact English wording shown here is an anonymous later variant with no identifiable published translator, so no copyright status can be asserted for it; note that the standard modern English translations (such as the Van Gogh Museum’s 2009 edition) are themselves in copyright.

Fact-check

How Picasso got the credit

This is a textbook “famous-name magnet” swap: a genuine line by one artist drifts onto a more marketable one. The sentiment is real and really van Gogh’s — only the attribution and the exact wording are off.

Pablo Picasso Misattributed

There is no source in Picasso’s writings, interviews, or documented remarks for this line. Quote Investigator ↗ found the earliest Picasso credit only in a 1995 Usenet post — 22 years after his 1973 death — and Wikiquote ↗ lists it as misattributed.

Anonymous later paraphrase Reworded

Van Gogh’s actual sentence, in the Van Gogh Museum translation, reads “I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it.” The circulated “that which I can not do … in order that I may learn how to do it” is a smoother, unsourced rendering — see Quote Investigator’s survey of the variants ↗.

The words — and the idea — belong to Vincent van Gogh, written to Anthon van Rappard on or about 18 August 1885 ↗.

Context

Why the line rings true for a painter

Van Gogh wrote the sentence at Nuenen in the summer of 1885, in the months around The Potato Eaters, his first ambitious multi-figure canvas. Defending his rough, self-taught approach to van Rappard — who had criticized that very painting — he cast his constant reaching beyond his current skill not as failure but as method: you attempt what you can’t yet do precisely in order to learn it.

That it later attached to Picasso is unsurprising — the idea of the restless artist who works at the edge of his ability fits the popular image of both men. But the documented words are van Gogh’s.

I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Growth Courage

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: origin of the sayingquoteinvestigator.com

Traces the line to van Gogh’s 1885 letter and documents the unsupported Picasso credit from 1995.
Van Gogh letter 528 to Anthon van Rappardvangoghletters.org

The primary source: the full annotated letter, c. 18 August 1885, with the original sentence in context.
Pablo Picasso — Misattributeden.wikiquote.org

Lists this quotation among lines wrongly credited to Picasso, pointing to van Gogh’s letter.
Vincent van Gogh — the letters projectvangoghletters.org

The scholarly Van Gogh Museum / Huygens ING edition of all of van Gogh’s correspondence.
Vincent van Gogh biographyen.wikipedia.org

Background on the true author and his years at Nuenen.

The true author

About Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh

1853–1890 · Dutch Post-Impressionist painter

Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was a Dutch painter whose roughly 2,100 works, made in barely a decade, became foundational to modern art. His voluminous letters — above all to his brother Theo and to fellow painters such as Anthon van Rappard — are among the most revealing artist’s writings ever preserved. This line comes from that correspondence, written while he was at work on The Potato Eaters in 1885.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Vincent van Gogh to Anthon van Rappard, Nuenen, on or about 18 August 1885, letter 528, in Vincent van Gogh — The Letters (Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum & Huygens ING), vangoghletters.org. Misattribution to Picasso surveyed in Garson O’Toole, Quote Investigator, 26 March 2017.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/i-am-always-doing-that-which-i-can-not-do-in-order-that-i

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