The miracle has come. So suddenly and so directly that I still cann't comprehend it myself. I'm engaged. My girl is the pastor of and her name is Ann… - Jan Mankes

(original Dutch: citaat van Jan Mankes, in het Nederlands:) Ik houd van en zijn dingen bezitten voor mij een eigenaardige bekooring.. .U zult zelf zeker van Thijs Maris houden en dan weet u.. ..hoe heerlijk het is mee te leven in zijn [Thijs!] kinderlijke innigheid.

It [an owl] is like coming from a fairy-tale, something royal fragile, something that you would never want to touch, Yes to me it has become fully absolute because of that silver breast. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)

You know the tender side of my work. That side was always dominating me. I feel the joy of that tenderness most strongly when I think of a finch-nest with cobweb and lichen on a May-morning. (translation from original Dutch: Fons Heijnsbroek)