would be vigorously continued on the lines he had laid down.

     I for my part am grateful  to fate for  having given me  this man, with
his inexhaustible goodness and high creative gifts, for a friend.

     Congratulations to Dr. Solf

     I am delighted  to  be  able to offer  you,  Dr.  Solf,  the  heartiest
congratulations, the  congratulations of  Lessing College, of which you have
become  an  indispensable  pillar, and  the congratulations  of all  who are
convinced  of the  need  for  close contact between science and  art and the
public which is hungry for spiritual nourishment.

     You have not hesitated to  apply your  energies to a  field where there
are no laurels to be won, but quiet, loyal work  to be done in the interests
of  the general  standard of  intellectual and  spiritual life, which  is in
peculiar  danger to-day  owing to  a  variety of circumstances.  Exaggerated
respect  for  athletics,   an  excess  of   coarse  impressions   which  the
complications of life through the technical discoveries of  recent years has
brought with it, the increased severity of the struggle for existence due to
the economic crisis,  the brutalization of political life--all these factors
are hostile  to  the  ripening  of  the  character  and the desire for  real
culture, and  stamp  our age  as  barbarous, materialistic, and superficial.
Specialization  in  every  sphere  of  intellectual  work  is  producing  an
everwidening gulf between  the intellectual worker  and  the non-specialist,
which makes it more difficult for the life of  the  nation  to be fertilized
and enriched by the achievements of art and science.

     But contact between  the intellectual and the masses must not be  lost.
It is necessary for the elevation of society and no less so for renewing the
strength of the intellectual worker; for the flower of science does not grow
in the  desert. For this  reason you, Herr  Solf, have devoted  a portion of
your energies to Lessing College, and we are  grateful  to you for doing so.
And we wish you further success  and  happiness in your  work for this noble
cause.

     Of Wealth

     I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity
forward, even in the  hands of the most  devoted worker  in this  cause. The
example of great and pure characters is the only thing that can produce fine
ideas and noble deeds. Money only appeals to  selfishness and always  tempts
its owners irresistibly to abuse it.

     Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus, or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of
Carnegie?

     Education and Educators

     A letter.

     Dear Miss _____,

     I have read about sixteen pages of your manuscript and it made
     me--smile. It is clever, well observed, honest, it stands on its
     own feet up to a point, and yet it is so typically feminine, by
     which I mean derivative and vitiated by personal rancour. I
     suffered exactly the same treatment at the hands of my teachers,
     who disliked me for my independence and passed me over
     when they wanted assistants (I must admit that I was somewhat
     less of a model student than you). But it would not have been
     worth my while to write anything about my school life, still less
     would I have liked to be responsible for anyone's printing or
     actually reading it. Besides, one always cuts a poor figure if one
     complains about others who are struggling for their place in the
     sun too after their own fashion.

     Therefore pocket your temperament and keep your manuscript
     for your sons and daughters, m order that they may derive
     consolation from it and--not give a damn for what their teachers
     tell them or think of them.

     Incidentally I am only coming to Princeton to research, not to
     teach. There is too much education altogether, especially in
     American schools. The only rational way of educating is to be an
     example--of what to avoid, if one can't be the other sort.

     With best wishes.

     To the Schoolchildren of Japan

     In  sending this greeting  to  you Japanese schoolchildren,  I can  lay
claim to a special right to do so. For I have myself visited your  beautiful
country, seen its  cities  and  houses, its mountains and woods, and in them
Japanese boys who had learnt from them to love their country. A big fat book
full of coloured drawings by Japanese children lies always on my table.

     If you get my message  of greeting from  all this distance, bethink you
that  ours  is  the  first  age  in  history  to  bring  about  friendly and
understanding intercourse  between people of different  countries; in former
times nations  passed their lives in mutual ignorance, and  in fact hated or
feared  one another. May the  spirit of brotherly understanding gain  ground
more and more  among them.  With  this  in  mind I, an  old  man, greet  you
Japanese schoolchildren from afar and hope that your generation may some day
put mine to shame.

     Teachers and Pupils

     An address to children

     (The principal art of the teacher is to awaken the joy in creation
     and knowledge.)

     My dear Children,

     I  rejoice  to  see you before me to-day, happy  youth  of a sunny  and
fortunate land.

     Bear in mind  that  the wonderful things  you learn in your schools are
the work of many generations, produced by enthusiastic  effort and  infinite
labour in  every  country of  the world. All  this is put into your hands as
your inheritance in order that you may receive it, honour it, add to it, and
one day  faithfully hand it on  to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve
immortality in the permanent things which we create in common.

     If you always keep  that in mind you will  find  a meaning in  life and
work and acquire the right attitude towards other nations and ages.

     Paradise Lost

     As late as  the  seventeenth  century the  savants  and  artists of all
Europe  were  so  closely  united  by  the  bond  of  a  common  ideal  that
co-operation between them was  scarcely  affected  by political events. This
unity was further strengthened by the general use of the Latin language.

     To-day we look back at this state of affairs as at a lost paradise. The
passions of  nationalism have destroyed this community of the intellect, and
the Latin language,  which once united the whole  world, is dead. The men of
learning have become the  chief mouthpieces  of national tradition and  lost
their sense of an intellectual commonwealth.

     Nowadays we are faced  with the curious fact  that the politicians, the
practical men  of affairs, have become the exponents of international ideas.
It is they who have created the League of Nations.


     Religion and Science

     Everything that the human race  has done and thought is  concerned with
the satisfaction of  felt needs and the assuagement of pain. One has to keep
this constantly in mind  if one wishes to understand spiritual movements and
their development. Feeling and desire are the motive forces behind all human
endeavour  and  human creation, in however exalted a  guise  the latter  may
present itself to us. Now what are the feelings and needs  that have led men
to  religious thought and  belief in the widest sense of the words? A little
consideration will suffice to show us that the most varying emotions preside
over the birth of religious thought and experience. With primitive man it is
above all fear that evokes  religious notions--fear of hunger,  wild beasts,
sickness, death.  Since  at this stage of existence  understanding of causal
connexions is  usually  poorly developed, the human mind creates for  itself
more or less  analogous  beings  on whose wills  and  actions  these fearful
happenings depend. One's object  now is to secure the favour of these beings
by  carrying  out  actions  and offering sacrifices which, according to  the
tradition handed down from generation to generation, propitiate them or make
them well disposed towards  a mortal. I  am speaking now of  the religion of
fear. This, though not created, is in  an important degree stabilized by the
formation  of  a special priestly caste which sets up as a mediator  between
the people and the beings they fear, and erects a hegemony on this basis. In
many cases the leader or ruler whose position depends on other factors, or a
privileged class, combines  priestly functions with its secular authority in
order  to  make the latter  more  secure; or  the  political rulers and  the
priestly caste make common cause in their own interests.

     The  social  feelings  are another source  of  the  crystallization  of
religion. Fathers  and mothers and  the leaders  of larger human communities
are mortal and fallible. The  desire for guidance, love, and support prompts
men to  form the  social  or moral  conception of  God.  This is  the God of
Providence  who  protects,  disposes,  rewards, and  punishes, the  God who,
according  to the width of the believer's  outlook,  loves and cherishes the
life of the tribe or of the human race, or even life  as such, the comforter
in sorrow and unsatisfied longing, who preserves the souls of the dead. This
is the social or moral conception of God.

     The  Jewish scriptures admirably  illustrate  the development  from the
religion of fear to moral religion, which is continued in the New Testament.
The  religions  of all  civilized peoples,  especially  the  peoples  of the
Orient, are primarily moral religions.  The  development from a religion  of
fear to moral religion is  a great step in a nation's  life. That  primitive
religions are based entirely on fear and the religions  of civilized peoples
purely on morality is a prejudice against which we must be on our guard. The
truth  is that they are  all intermediate types, with this reservation, that
on the higher levels of social life the religion of morality predominates.

     Common to  all these  types is  the anthropomorphic character of  their
conception  of   God.   Only  individuals  of   exceptional  endowments  and
exceptionally  high-minded communities, as a general rule,  get in any  real
sense beyond this level. But there is  a third state of religious experience
which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form,
and  which I will  call cosmic  religious feeling. It is  very  difficult to
explain this  feeling to  anyone who is entirely  without  it, especially as
there is no anthropomorphic conception of God corresponding to it.

     The individual feels the nothingness of human desires  and aims and the
sublimity and marvellous order which reveal themselves both in nature and in
the world of thought. He looks upon individual existence as a sort of prison
and  wants to  experience the  universe as a  single  significant whole. The
beginnings of cosmic religious feeling already  appear in  earlier stages of
development--e.g.,  in  many of the  Psalms of David  and  in  some  of  the
Prophets.  Buddhism,  as  we  have  learnt  from the  wonderful writings  of
Schopenhauer especially, contains a much stronger element of it.

     The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind
of religious  feeling,  which knows no  dogma and no God  conceived in man's
image; so that there can be no Church whose  central teachings are  based on
it. Hence it is precisely among the  heretics of every  age that we find men
who were filled with the highest  kind of religious feeling and were in many
cases  regarded  by their  contemporaries  as Atheists,  sometimes  also  as
saints. Looked at in this light, men like Democritus, Francis of Assisi, and
Spinoza are closely akin to one another.

     How  can  cosmic  religious feeling be communicated from  one person to
another, if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology?
In  my view, it is the most important function of  art and science to awaken
this feeling and keep it alive in those who are capable of it.

     We  thus arrive at a conception of the relation of science to  religion
very different  from the usual one.  When one views the matter  historically
one  is  inclined  to  look  upon  science and  religion  as  irreconcilable
antagonists,  and  for a  very obvious  reason. The  man who  is  thoroughly
convinced of  the universal  operation of the law of  causation cannot for a
moment entertain  the idea of  a  being  who  interferes in  the  course  of
events--that is, if he takes the hypothesis  of  causality really seriously.
He has no  use for the  religion of fear and equally little  for  social  or
moral religion. A God who  rewards and  punishes is inconceivable to him for
the simple reason that a man's actions are determined by necessity, external
and  internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot be responsible, any more than
an inanimate object is responsible for  the motions it  goes  through. Hence
science has been  charged  with  undermining  morality,  but  the charge  is
unjust. A man's  ethical behaviour should be based effectually on  sympathy,
education,  and social ties;  no religious  basis  is  necessary. Man  would
indeed  be in  a poor way if he had to be  restrained by fear and punishment
and hope of reward after death.

     It is therefore easy to see why the Churches have always fought science
and  persecuted its  devotees.  On  the other hand,  I maintain  that cosmic
religious  feeling  is  the strongest and  noblest incitement to  scientific
research. Only those who realize the immense  efforts  and,  above  all, the
devotion  which pioneer work in theoretical  science  demands, can grasp the
strength of the emotion out of which alone such work, remote as it  is  from
the immediate  realities of life,  can issue. What a  deep conviction of the
rationality of the universe and what a yearning to understand, were it but a
feeble reflection of the mind revealed in this world, Kepler and Newton must
have had to enable them to spend years of solitary labour  in  disentangling
the  principles  of  celestial  mechanics!  Those  whose  acquaintance  with
scientific  research  is derived chiefly from  its practical results  easily
develop  a  completely  false  notion  of  the mentality  of  the  men  who,
surrounded  by  a sceptical world, have shown the  way to those  like-minded
with themselves, scattered through the earth and the centuries. Only one who
has  devoted his life to similar ends can have  a  vivid realization of what
has  inspired these men and  given them the strength to remain true to their
purpose in  spite of countless failures. It is cosmic religious feeling that
gives a man strength  of this sort.  A contemporary  has said, not unjustly,
that  in  this materialistic age of ours  the serious scientific workers are
the only profoundly religious people.

     The Religiousness of Science

     You will  hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds
without a peculiar religious feeling of his  own. But  it is  different from
the religion of the naive man. For the latter God is a being from whose care
one  hopes to benefit and whose punishment  one fears;  a  sublimation  of a
feeling similar to  that  of  a child  for its  father, a being to  whom one
stands  to some  extent in a personal relation,  however deeply  it  may  be
tinged with awe.

     But the scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation. The
future, to him, is every whit as necessary and determined as the past. There
is nothing divine about morality, it is a purely human affair. His religious
feeling  takes  the form  of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural
law,  which reveals  an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with
it, all the systematic  thinking  and  acting of human  beings is an utterly
insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding  principle of his life
and  work,  in so far as he succeeds in keeping himself from the shackles of
selfish  desire. It is  beyond  question  closely  akin  to that  which  has
possessed the religious geniuses of all ages.

     The Plight of Science

     The German-speaking countries are menaced by a danger to which those in
the know are in duty bound to call attention in the most emphatic terms. The
economic stress which  political  events  bring  in their train does not hit
everybody equally hard.  Among the  hardest  hit are  the  institutions  and
individuals whose material existence depends directly on the State.  To this
category belong  the scientific institutions and workers  on  whose work not
merely the well-being of science  but also the  position occupied by Germany
and Austria in the scale of culture very largely depends.

     To grasp the full gravity of the situation it is necessary to  bear  in
mind the  following consideration. In times  of crisis  people are generally
blind to  everything outside their immediate necessities.  For work which is
directly productive of material  wealth they will pay. But science, if it is
to flourish,  must have no practical end  in  view.  As  a general rule, the
knowledge  and  the methods which  it  creates  only subserve practical ends
indirectly  and,  in  many  cases,  not  till after  the  lapse  of  several
generations. Neglect of science leads to a subsequent dearth of intellectual
workers  able, in virtue of their independent outlook and judgment, to blaze
new  trails  for  industry  or  adapt  themselves  to new  situations. Where
scientific enquiry is stunted the intellectual life of the nation dries  up,
which means the withering of many possibilities  of future development. This
is what we have to prevent. Now that the State has been weakened as a result
of nonpolitical causes, it is up to the economically stronger members of the
community  to  come  to  the rescue  directly,  and  prevent  the  decay  of
scientific life.

     Far-sighted men with a clear understanding of the situation have set up
institutions by which scientific  work of every sort is  to be kept going in
Germany  and  Austria.  Help  to  make these efforts  a real success. In  my
teaching  work  I see  with  admiration that economic  troubles have not yet
succeeded in stifling the  will and the  enthusiasm for scientific research.
Far from it! Indeed, it looks as if our disasters had actually quickened the
devotion to non-material goods. Everywhere people are  working  with burning
enthusiasm  in  the  most  difficult  circumstances.  See  to  it  that  the
will-power  and  the talents of the youth  of  to-day  do  not perish to the
grievous hurt of the community as a whole.

     Fascism and Science

     A letter to Signor Rocco, Minister of State, Rome.

     My dear Sir,

     Two of the most eminent and respected men of science in Italy
     have applied to me in their difficulties of conscience and
     requested me to write to you with the object of preventing, if
     possible, a piece of cruel persecution with which men of learning
     are threatened in Italy. I refer to a form of oath in which fidelity
     to the Fascist system is to be promised. The burden of my
     request is that you should please advise Signor Mussolini to
     spare the flower of Italy's intellect this humiliation.

     However much our political convictions may differ, I know that
     we agree on one point: in the progressive achievements of the
     European mind both of us see and love our highest good. Those
     achievements are based on the freedom of thought and of
     teaching, on the principle that the desire for truth must take
     precedence of all other desires. It was this basis alone that
     enabled our civilization to take its rise in Greece and to celebrate
     its rebirth in Italy at the Renaissance. This supreme good has
     been paid for by the martyr's blood of pure and great men, for
     whose sake Italy is still loved and reverenced to-day.

     Far be it from me to argue with you about what inroads on
     human liberty may be justified by reasons of State. But the
     pursuit of scientific truth, detached from the practical interests of
     everyday life, ought to be treated as sacred by every
     Government, and it is in the highest interests of all that honest
     servants of truth should be left in peace. This is also undoubtedly
     in the interests of the Italian State and its prestige in the eyes of
     the world.

     Hoping that my request will not fall on deaf ears, I am, etc.

        A. E.

     Interviewers

     To be called to account publicly  for everything one has said, even  in
jest, an excess of high spirits, or momentary anger, fatal as it must  be in
the end,  is  yet up  to a point reasonable and natural. But to be called to
account publicly for what others have  said in  one's name, when  one cannot
defend  oneself, is  indeed  a  sad  predicament.  "But  who suffers such  a
dreadful fate?" you will ask. Well, everyone  who is  of sufficient interest
to the public to  be pursued by interviewers. You smile incredulously, but I
have had plenty of direct experience and will tell you about it.

     Imagine  the  following situation. One morning a reporter comes  to you
and asks you in a friendly way to tell him something about your friend N. At
first you  no  doubt  feel  something  approaching  indignation  at  such  a
proposal. But you soon discover  that there  is no escape. If you  refuse to
say anything, the man writes: "I asked  one of  N.'s supposedly best friends
about him. But he prudently avoided my questions. This in itself enables the
reader to draw the inevitable conclusions." There is,  therefore, no escape,
and  you   give   the   following  information:  "Mr.   N.  is  a  cheerful,
straightforward man, much  liked by all  his  friends. He can find  a bright
side  to any situation.  His enterprise and industry know no bounds; his job
takes  up his  entire  energies.  He is  devoted  to  his  family  and  lays
everything he possesses at his wife's feet. . . "

     Now for the  reporter's  version : "Mr. N. takes nothing very seriously
and  has  a gift  for  making  himself  liked, particularly as  he carefully
cultivates a  hearty and ingratiating manner. He is so completely a slave to
his  job that he  has  no time for  the considerations of  any  non-personal
subject  or  for  any  mental  activity  outside  it.  He  spoils  his  wife
unbelievably and is utterly under her thumb. . ."

     A real reporter would make  it much more spicy, but  I expect this will
be enough for you and your  friend N.  He reads this, and some more like it,
in the paper next morning, and his rage against you knows no bounds, however
cheerful and benevolent  his natural disposition may be. The injury  done to
him gives you untold pain, especially as you are really fond of him.

     What's your next step, my friend? If you know, tell me quickly, so that
I may adopt your method with all speed.


     Thanks to America

     Mr. Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen,

     The splendid reception which you have accorded to me  to-day puts me to
the blush  in so far as it is meant for me  personally, but it gives me  all
the more pleasure in  so  far as it  is meant for me as a representative  of
pure science. For this gathering is  an outward and visible  sign  that  the
world is no longer prone to regard material power and  wealth as the highest
goods. It is gratifying that men should feel an urge  to proclaim this in an
official way.

     In the wonderful two  months  which I have  been privileged to spend in
your midst  in  this  fortunate  land, I  have  had  many  opportunities  of
observing what  a high value men  of  action and of practical life attach to
the efforts  of  science;  a  good few of  them have  placed a  considerable
proportion of their fortunes and their energies at the service of scientific
enterprises and thereby  contributed  to the prosperity and prestige of this
country.

     I  cannot  let  this occasion  pass without  referring in a  spirit  of
thankfulness to  the fact that American patronage  of science is not limited
by national  frontiers. Scientific  enterprises all over the civilized world
rejoice in  the liberal support of  American institutions and individuals--a
fact which is, I am sure, a source of pride and gratification to all of you.

     These  tokens  of  an  international way  of thinking and  feeling  are
particularly welcome;  for  the world  is  to-day more than ever  in need of
international thinking and feeling by its leading nations and personalities,
if it  is to  progress towards a  better and  more worthy future.  I may  be
permitted  to express the hope that  this  internationalism  of the American
nation, which proceeds from a high sense  of responsibility,  will very soon
extend itself to the sphere of politics. For without the active co-operation
of  the great  country  of the  United States in the business of  regulating
international relations, all efforts directed towards this important end are
bound to remain more or less ineffectual.

     I  thank you  most  heartily  for  this magnificent  reception and,  in
particular, the men of learning in this country for the cordial and friendly
welcome I have  received  from them. I  shall always look  back on these two
months with pleasure and gratitude.

     The University Course at Davos

     Senalores boni viri, senatus autem bestia. So a friend of mine, a Swiss
professor, once wrote in his irritable way to a university faculty which had
annoyed  him.  Communities  tend  to  be  less  guided  than individuals  by
conscience  and  a  sense of  responsibility.  What  a  fruitful  source  of
suffering to mankind this fact is! It is the cause of wars and every kind of
oppression, which fill the earth with pain, sighs, and bitterness.

     And yet nothing truly valuable can be achieved except by  the unselfish
co-operation  of many  individuals.  Hence  the man  of  good will  is never
happier than when some communal  enterprise is afoot and is launched  at the
cost of heavy  sacrifices, with  the  single  object of  promoting life  and
culture.

     Such pure  joy  was mine when I  heard  about the university courses at
Davos.  A work of rescue is being carried out there, with intelligence and a
wise moderation, which is based on a grave need, though it may not be a need
that  is  immediately obvious  to everyone.  Many a young man  goes to  this
valley with his hopes fixed on the healing power of its sunny  mountains and
regains  his  bodily health. But thus  withdrawn for long periods  from  the
will-hardening discipline of normal work and a prey to morbid  reflection on
his physical condition, he easily loses  the power of mental effort  and the
sense  of  being  able to hold  his own  in the struggle  for existence.  He
becomes a sort of hot-house plant  and, when his body is  cured, often finds
it  difficult  to  get back  to  normal life.  Interruption  of intellectual
training in  the formative period of youth is very apt to leave  a gap which
can hardly be filled later.

     Yet,  as  a general rule, intellectual  work in moderation, so far from
retarding cure,  indirectly helps it forward, just as moderate physical work
does.  It  is  in this  knowledge  that  the  university courses  are  being
instituted, with the object not merely of preparing these young people for a
profession but of stimulating them to  intellectual  activity  as such. They
are to provide work, training, and hygiene in the sphere of the mind.

     Let us not  forget  that  this  enterprise  is admirably calculated  to
establish  such  relations  between  members  of  different  nations as  are
favourable to the growth of  a common European feeling. The  effects  of the
new institution in this direction are likely to be all the more advantageous
from  the  fact that the circumstances of its  birth  rule out every sort of
political purpose. The best way to serve the cause of internationalism is by
co-operating in some life-giving work.

     >From  all  these  points  of  view  I  rejoice  that  the  energy  and
intelligence of the founders of the university courses at Davos have already
attained  such  a  measure  of success that the enterprise has  outgrown the
troubles of infancy. May it prosper, enriching the inner lives of numbers of
admirable human  beings and  rescuing many  from the  poverty of  sanatorium
life!

     Congratulations to a Critic

     To see with one's own eyes, to feel and judge without succumbing to the
suggestive power of the fashion  of the day, to be able  to express what one
has seen and felt  in  a  snappy  sentence or  even  in a cunningly  wrought
word--is that not glorious? Is it not a proper subject for congratulation?

     Greeting to G. Bernard Shaw

     There  are few  enough people  with sufficient independence to  see the
weaknesses  and  follies  of  their  contemporaries  and  remain  themselves
untouched  by  them. And these isolated few usually soon lose their zeal for
putting  things  to  rights  when they  have  come face  to face with  human
obduracy. Only to  a tiny minority is it given to fascinate their generation
by subtle humour and grace and to hold the mirror up to it by the impersonal
agency of art. To-day  I  salute with sincere emotion the supreme  master of
this method, who has delighted--and educated--us all.

     Some Notes on my American Impressions

     I must redeem my  promise to say something about my impressions of this
country. That is not altogether easy for me. For it  is not easy to take  up
the  attitude of an  impartial observer  when  one  is  received  with  such
kindness and undeserved respect as I have  been in America. First of all let
me say something on this head.

     The   cult   of  individual   personalities  is  always,  in  my  view,
unjustified. To  be sure, nature  distributes  her gifts variously among her
children. But there are plenty of the well-endowed ones too,  thank God, and
I am firmly convinced  that most of them  live  quiet, unregarded lives.  It
strikes me as  unfair,  and even in bad taste,  to select a few of them  fur
boundless admiration, attributing superhuman powers of mind and character to
them.  This has been my fate,  and the contrast between the popular estimate
of  my powers  and achievements  and the  reality  is simply grotesque.  The
consciousness of this extraordinary state of affairs would be unbearable but
for one great consoling thought: it is a welcome symptom in  an age which is
commonly  denounced  as materialistic,  that it  makes heroes  of men  whose
ambitions lie wholly in the intellectual and moral  sphere. This proves that
knowledge and justice are  ranked above wealth and power by  a large section
of the human race. My experience teaches  me that this idealistic outlook is
particularly  prevalent  in  America,  which   is   usually  decried   as  a
particularly  materialistic country.  After  this  digression I come  to  my
proper theme, in the hope that no more weight will  be attached to my modest
remarks than they deserve.

     What  first strikes the  visitor with amazement is  the  superiority of
this country  in matters of technics and  organization. Objects of  everyday
use  are  more  solid than  in Europe, houses  infinitely more convenient in
arrangement.  Everything  is  designed  to  save  human  labour.  Labour  is
expensive, because the country is sparsely inhabited in comparison with  its
natural resources.  The high price  of labour was the stimulus  which evoked
the  marvellous  development  of technical devices and methods  of work. The
opposite  extreme is illustrated by over-populated China or India, where the
low price of labour has stood  in the way of  the development of  machinery.
Europe is half-way between the two. Once the machine is  sufficiently highly
developed it becomes cheaper in  the  end than the  cheapest labour. Let the
Fascists  in  Europe, who desire on  narrow-minded  political grounds to see
their  own particular  countries more densely populated, take heed of  this.
The  anxious care with which the  United States keep  out foreign  goods  by
means  of   prohibitive  tariffs   certainly   contrasts  oddly  with   this
notion.…But an  innocent  visitor must not  be expected to  rack  his
brains too  much, and, when  all  is said and  done,  it  is  not absolutely
certain that every question admits of a rational answer.

     The  second  thing that  strikes  a  visitor  is  the joyous,  positive
attitude to life.  The  smile on the faces of the  people in photographs  is
symbolical  of  one  of  the American's greatest  assets.  He  is  friendly,
confident,  optimistic, and--without envy.  The  European finds  intercourse
with Americans easy and agreeable.

     Compared  with  the  American,  the  European is  more  critical,  more
self-conscious, less goodhearted and helpful, more isolated, more fastidious
in his amusements and his reading, generally more or less of a pessimist.

     Great importance attaches to the  material comforts of life, and peace,
freedom  from care, security are all sacrificed  to them. The American lives
for  ambition,  the future, more than  the European.  Life for him is always
becoming, never being.  In this respect he is  even further removed from the
Russian and the Asiatic than the European is. But  there is  another respect
in which he resembles the Asiatic more than the European does: he is lest of
an individualist than the European--that is, from the psychological, not the
economic, point of view.

     More emphasis is laid on the "we" than the "I."  As a natural corollary
of  this, custom  and convention  are very powerful, and there  is much more
uniformity both  in outlook on life and  in  moral and Ôsthetic ideas  among
Americans  than  among  Europeans.  This fact  is  chiefly  responsible  for
America's economic superiority over Europe. Co-operation and the division of
labour  are  carried  through  more  easily and  with  less friction than in
Europe,  whether in the factory or the university or  in private good works.
This social sense may be partly due to the English tradition.

     In apparent contradiction to this stands  the fact that the  activities
of the  State  are  comparatively restricted  as  compared  with Europe. The
European is surprised  to find the telegraph,  the telephone,  the railways,
and the  schools predominantly in private hands. The more social attitude of
the  individual,  which I  mentioned just  now,  makes  this  possible here.
Another  consequence  of  this  attitude  is  that  the  extremely   unequal
distribution  of property leads  to  no intolerable  hardships.  The  social
conscience of  the rich man is much more highly developed than in Europe. He
considers himself obliged as a matter of course to place a large  portion of
his wealth, and often of  his  own  energies  too,  at the  disposal of  the
community, and public opinion,  that all-powerful force, imperiously demands
it of him.  Hence  the  most important  cultural functions  can  be left  to
private enterprise,  and  the part played by the State  in this country  is,
comparatively, a very restricted one.

     The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by
the  Prohibition laws. For  nothing is more destructive  of  respect for the
government and  the  law of the  land  than  passing  laws which  cannot  be
enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase  of crime in this
country is closely connected with this.

     There is  also another way in which Prohibition, in my opinion, has led
to the  enfeeblement of the State.  The public-house  is a place which gives
people a chance to exchange views and ideas on public affairs.  As far as  I
can see, people here have no chance of doing this, the result being that the
Press,  which is mostly controlled by definite interests,  has  an excessive
influence over public opinion.

     The over-estimation of money is  still greater in this country  than in
Europe, but  appears to me to be on the decrease. It is at last beginning to
be realized that great wealth  is not necessary for a happy and satisfactory
life.

     As regards artistic  matters,  I have been genuinely  impressed by  the
good taste displayed in the modern buildings and in articles  of common use;
on the  other hand, the visual arts and music have  little place in the life
of the nation as compared with Europe.

     I have a warm admiration for the achievements of American institutes of
scientific research.  We are unjust in  attempting to ascribe the increasing
superiority of American research-work exclusively to superior  wealth; zeal,
patience, a spirit of comradeship, and  a  talent for  co-operation  play an
important part in its successes. One more observation to finish up with. The
United States is the most powerful technically advanced country in the world
to-day.  Its  influence  on  the  shaping   of  international  relations  is
absolutely incalculable. But America is a  large country and its people have
so far not shown much interest in great international problems,  among which
the problem of disarmament occupies first place today. This must be changed,
if only in the essential interests of the Americans. The last war  has shown
that there  are no longer  any barriers between  the continents and that the
destinies  of  all countries are  closely  interwoven.  The people  of  this
country must realize that they have  a great responsibility in the sphere of
international politics.  The part  of passive  spectator is unworthy of this
country and is bound in the end to lead to disaster all round.

     Reply to the Women of America

     An  American  Women's  League  felt  called  upon  to  protest  against
Einstein's visit to their country. They received the following answer.

     Never yet have I experienced from the fair sex such energetic rejection
of all advances; or, if I have, never from so many at once.

     But are they not quite right,  these watchful  citizenesses? Why should
one open one's doors to a person who devours hard-boiled capitalists with as
much appetite and  gusto  as the  Cretan Minotaur in days  gone  by devoured
luscious Greek maidens, and  on  top  of  that is low-down  enough to reject
every sort of war, except the unavoidable war with one's own wife? Therefore
give  heed to your clever  and  patriotic women-folk  and remember  that the
Capitol of mighty Rome was once saved by the cackling of its faithful geese.


        II

     Politics and Pacifism

     Peace

     The  importance of securing  international  peace was recognized by the
really great men of former generations. But the technical  advances  of  our
times have turned this ethical postulate into a matter of life and death for
civilized  mankind  to-day,  and  made the taking  of an active part  in the
solution of the problem of peace a moral duty which no conscientious man can
shirk.

     One has to realize that the powerful industrial groups concerned in the
manufacture of  arms are doing  their best in all  countries to  prevent the
peaceful settlement of international disputes, and that  rulers  can achieve
this great end only if they are sure of the vigorous support of the majority
of  their peoples.  In  these days of democratic  government the fate of the
nations hangs on themselves; each individual must always bear that in mind.

     The Pacifist Problem

     Ladies and Gentlemen,

     I am very glad of this opportunity of  saying a  few words to you about
the  problem  of pacificism. The course of events in the last few years  has
once more  shown  us how little  we are  justified  in leaving the  struggle
against  armaments and  against the war spirit  to  the  Governments. On the
other hand, the formation of large organizations with a large membership can
of itself  bring us very little nearer  to our goal. In my opinion, the best
method in this case is the violent one of conscientious objection, with  the
aid of organizations for giving moral and material support to the courageous
conscientious  objectors  in each country.  In  this way we  may  succeed in
making the  problem  of  pacificism  an  acute one, a  real  struggle  which
attracts  forceful natures. It  is an  illegal struggle, but  a struggle for
people's real rights  against their governments  in  so far  as  the  latter
demand criminal acts of the citizen.

     Many  who think  themselves good pacifists will jib at this out-and-out
pacifism, on patriotic grounds. Such people are  not  to be relied on in the
hour of crisis, as the World War amply proved.

     I am  most grateful to  you for according me an opportunity to give you
my views in person.