- Golo Mann: In the writer's household, as that of my father, reality shifted somewhat. The artistic and the worldly, the so called worldly, would get mixed up in peculiar ways. For example; we the children have read the novel Buddenbrooks early in our lives and become familiar with it later thoroughly. There were no boundaries in our family for what is history and what is literature. I once visited the grave of my Grandfather in Lubeck. In the novel Senator Buddenbrooks had seemed to me as if standing at the grave of Thomas Buddenbrooks. I can't say to what extent these figures are similar.
- Katia Mann: His schedule never changed. He wrote only in the mornings. Breakfast was at 9:30 and he worked until 12 noon. Then he went for a walk. After that he rested and smoked a cigar. At 4pm he took a nap. At 5pm we had tea, after which we took another walk. In the evenings he liked to hear music, either on the radio or on records.
- Katia Mann: He read to me when a chapter was finished, or when he had accomplished a major portion. Later he would also read to the children, the family. He liked that and it stimulated him to hear it and see the impact. No one else could do it for him.
- Katia Mann: He never read passages he had worked on the same day. He wrote usually a whole manuscript page, sometimes a page and a half, but never more than that. On the other hand he never really changed anything. You asked about his walks, I am sure he planned the next days work as he walked. He was totally free then and it wouldn't have been right for me to distract him.