It is better to be high-spirited even though one makes more mistakes, than to be narrow-minded and too prudent.

The remark contrasts two temperaments: an energetic, risk-taking spirit that inevitably errs, and a cautious, constricted prudence that avoids error by avoiding bold action. In van Gogh’s case, the sentiment aligns with an artistic ethic that values intensity, experimentation, and sincerity over safe correctness. The quote implies that mistakes are a natural cost of vitality and growth, whereas excessive caution can become a form of intellectual or moral smallness—protecting one’s reputation at the expense of discovery. Read this way, it defends creative courage: better to live and work expansively, learning through missteps, than to be “right” by never venturing far enough to be wrong.