Letter 026 London, May 8, 1875
Dear Theo,
Thanks for your last letter. How is the patient? 1 I had already heard from Father that she was ill, but I did not know it was as bad as that. Please write me soon about her.
Ay, boy, 鈥淲hat shall we say?鈥?C. M. and Mr. Tersteeg have been here and left again last Saturday. In my opinion they went too often to the Crystal Palace and other places where they had nothing particular to do. I think they might just as well have come to see the place where I live. I hope and trust that I am not what many people think I am just now. We shall see, some time must pass; probably they will say the same of you a few years hence, at least if you remain what you are: my brother in both senses of the word.
Farewell and my compliments to the patient.
With a handshake, Vincent
Pour agir dans le monde il faut mourir 脿 soi-m锚me. Le peuple qui se fait le missionnaire d鈥檜ne pens茅e religieuse n鈥檃 plus d鈥檃utre patrie que cette pens茅e.
L鈥檋omme n鈥檈st pas ici-bas seulement pour 锚tre heureux, il n鈥檡 est m锚me pas pour 锚tre simplement honn锚te.
Il y est pour r茅aliser de grandes choses pour la soci茅t茅, pour arriver 脿 la noblesse et d脿passer la vulgarit茅 o霉 se tra卯ne l鈥檈xistence de Presque tous les individus.
[To act well in this world one must sacrifice all personal desires. The people who become the missionary of a religious thought have no other fatherland than this thought.
Man is not on this earth merely to be happy, or even to be simply honest. He is there to realize great things for humanity, to attain nobility and to surmount the vulgarity of almost everybody.]
- RENAN 1. Their cousin, Annette Haanebeek, who died soon after.