I deserve my bread

I must say that sometimes I cannot bear Tersteeg's saying to me over and over again, “You must begin to think about earning your own living.” I think it is such a dreadful expression, and then it is all I can do to keep calm. I work as hard as I can and do not spare myself, so I deserve my bread, and they ought not to reproach me with not having been able to sell anything up to now.

To Theo van Gogh, from The Hague, 13 February 1882, Letter 175
Translation courtesy of Robert Harrison.
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