Normality is a well-paved street; it is good for walking—but no flowers will grow there.

In this post from The Quote Investigator, the earliest English version found was in a 2009 catalog for the exhibition "Vincent van Gogh: Between Earth and Heaven: The Landscapes" from the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland. It appeared there alongside French and German versions, and the German version "Die Normalität ist eine gepflasterte Straße, man kann gut darauf gehen — doch es wachsen keine Blumen auf ihr" can also be found attributed to van Gogh on p. 23 of the 2007 German book Alles ist möglich by Roland Lieverscheidt-Pelzer, and in Architekturbüro Schwieger 2006/2007 (copyrighted 2006) in excerpts viewable here and here. A version of the german quote with anglicised spelling, "Die Normalitaet ist ein gepflasterte Strasse; man kann gut darauf gehen - doch es wachsen keine Blumen auf ihr", can also be found as the signature to some usenet posts from 18 March 1999 and 30 July 2000, where it was not attributed to van Gogh.

Normality is a paved road; it’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.