"biograhy facts and dates of Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, in the Dutch R.K.D. Archive, The Hague"

“I remember I stood stunned as a boy, in front of the paintings of the old masters in our museums, how they let speak Nature to you. If I have learned to see nature by someone, it was by our old masters. But most by Nature itself.”

“Better send in one good picture than a lot of poor ones, but then that good one must be so good that it almost walks out of the frame and becomes a portion of nature itself.”

“I was a healthy, strong, cheerful boy, and like to take great walks in and around The Hague.. .I sometimes got a blow from Nature. And if I got such a blow later, I could draw and paint what I saw. I recorded it in a few scribbles.”

“My good Lord and friend Sala, - enjoyed the blissful pleasure enjoyed by your friendship.. .When I reached the city again yesterday, I have taken the fishes out of the basket more than 12 times, to show them.. .That day, friend Sala, belongs among the most pleasant of my life, all moments have kept me alive until now, always sitting in the boat, swaying with the bobbers in the field of view..”

“When it is storming and raining, thundering and lightening I am in my element; nature must be seen in action. Then outside, I put on my jacket, put my feet in clogs, put on a hat and start on a march. When the showers settle down, with charcoal or black chalk make a scribble, to keep a firm grip on what one sees. When working out, hue and color come smoothly back into the memory.”

“Weissenbruch to Anton Mauve: He is drawing damn well, I could paint after his studies.”