Vincent Van Gogh（30 Mareh 1853~29 July 1890）was a Dutch Post-Impressionist artist. He is considered one of the greatest artists with great influence on 20th century art.

Van Gogh spent his early adult life working for a firm of art dealers. After a brief period as a teacher, he became a missionary（传教士）worker in a very poor mining region. He did not begin his career as an artist until 1880; however during the last ten years of his life, he produced more than 2,000 pieces, including around 900 paintings and 1,100 drawings and sketches（素描）.

He worked only with sombre（昏暗的）colours until he met Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism in Paris. Van Gogh incorporated（合并）their bright colours and style of painting into a uniquely recognizable style. Most of his best-known works were produced during his final two years, when he was suffering from serious mental illness.

In 1890, at the age of 37, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest. He died two days later, with Theo, his brother and his best friend, at his side, who reported his last words as “The sadness will last forever”. Theo, unable to come to terms with his brother’s death died 6 months later and was buried next to him. It would not take long before his fame grew higher and higher.

Vincent Van Gogh’s mother threw away quite a number of his paintings during Vincent’s life and even after his death. But she would live long enough to see her son become a world famous painter.

The only painting he sold during his lifetime, The Red Vineyard, was created in 1888. It is now on display in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Russia. Several paintings by Van Gogh rank among the most expensive paintings in the world.

On March 30, 1987 Van Gogh’s painting Irises was sold for a record 53.9 million at Southeby’s, New York. On May 15, 1990 his Portrait of Doctor Gachet was sold for $82.5 million at Christie’s, thus establishing a new price record.

Jimmy Choi is a cyclist, and a world record holder for push-ups (俯卧撑). He also happens to be living with Parkinson's disease. He was diagnosed with the brain disorder in 2003, suffering from involuntary shaking and problems with walking and balancing. There is currently no cure. Jimmy has to quit the sports. Soon he commits himself to being a motivational speaker and advocating for people with the disease.

Jimmy often shares his struggles on social media, and in a recent video, he expressed his annoyance at the packaging of the pills he needs to take. It showed his shaking hand trying to get a tiny pill from the bottle. Jimmy wasn't the only one facing such a problem. Brian Alldridge, a videographer (电视录像制作人), saw his video and immediately decided to do something to help him and everyone else dealing with this problem. He sat down at his computer and taught himself 3D modeling software. Within two days, Brian designed a new medicine bottle that separates a single pill in a container.

Brian made his own video and offered his design free of charge to anyone with a 3D printer who would be willing to create a physical prototype (原型). “I expected maybe one or two people to message me when I couldn't guarantee that the device would actually work. Instead, thousands of people offered to print the thing the next day,” Brian said, feeling so surprised. “Even more told me that someone they knew could benefit from it.”

The online community took it from there, printing out many versions of Brian's design until they had a prototype to send to Jimmy. Jimmy was just surprised by their support, and he eagerly tested every version of it. The creators of the pill bottle now feel like there's nothing they can't do! “If you think of a way to improve the lives of others, there's most likely a way to make it happen.” Brian said.

There was a man playing the piano in a bar. He was a good piano player and always performed in this bar. People came in just to hear him play. But one night, a customer told him that he didn't want to hear him just play the piano any more. He wanted him to sing a song.

The man said, "I don't sing." But the customer was persistent(执着的). He told the bar manager, "I'm tired of listening to the piano. I want that man to sing!" The manager shouted across the room, "If you want to get paid, sing a song. Our customers are asking you to sing!" So he did. He sang a song. A piano player who had never sung in public did so for the first time. And everyone was surprised by his song Mona Lisa. He got lots of applause that night. He had such a talent for singing, but he just had been sitting on his talent for the past years! If without such a chance, he may have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. However, now he has become one of the best-known singers in America.

You, too, have skills and abilities. Maybe your "talent" is not as great as the singer above, but it may be better than you think! And with effort, most skills can be improved. So, in your life, you should be brave enough to try doing different things and find out what talents you really have!