348
DOCS.
465,
466
AUGUST
1913
I look
forward
keenly
to
Berlin,[9] mainly
because
I look forward to
you.
We will
surely
find
much
delight
in
each other. Tell
me
also how did it
come
about that
you
knew
of the
impending appointment
and
were
able to
help
bring
it
about.[10]
Kisses from
your
Albert
It
is
nice of
you
to
make
peace
with
my
mother. After
all,
you
can
keep
at
great
distance
from
her without
really
offending
her.
I
hope
I will be able
to
make amends
to
you
for
your
sacrifice.
The will
to
do
so
is
surely
present.
My
wife
goes
there
with
very
mixed
feelings
because
she is
afraid of the
relatives,
probably
most
so
of
you (rightly
so, I
hope!).
But
you
and
I
can
very
well be
happy
with
each other without her
having
to
be
hurt. You
cannot
take
away
from
her
something
she does
not
possess.
466.
To
Elsa Löwenthal
[Zurich,
after
11 August
1913][1]
My
dear
Elsa,
Your
comprehensive
letter
causes
me
great
concern.
But
fortunately
I know
that
having
an
enlarged
heart
is not
as
serious
a
blow
as you
fear. A few months
of
rest,
until
the
thing
has
properly quieted
down
again,
and
you
will
again
be
the
same as
you
were
before!
And that
this
should
happen
to
the
greatest
health fanatic of
all
the
womenfolk!
And
in
the
same
letter
you
dare
to
give
me a
medical
sermon,
to
command
with
the
air
of
an
infallible
physician
that
I swim in the
wet and
run on
the
dry?
I would
make
good
fun of
you
if I could
make
up
for it with
a
little kiss
or some
other
sweetness. I have
firmly
decided
to bite
the dust
with
a
minimum
of
medical assistance
when
my
time has
come,
and
up
to
then
to sin
to
my
wicked
heart's
desire. Diet: smoke like
a
chimney,
work like
a
horse, eat
without
thinking
and
choosing, go
for
a
walk
only
in
really pleasant
company,
and thus
only rarely,
unfortunately,
sleep irregularly,
etc.
Your assistance
with
my
appointment
has
probably not
been
all
that
ineffectual:
Haber[2]
knows whom he
is dealing
with.
He
knows how
to
appreciate
the
influence
of
a
friendly
female
cousin.
Perhaps
I would have left
the
Academy[3]
alone and remained
in familiar
surroundings.
But
now you
must be
very
kind
to
me,
and take
this
man
of
the
world,
who
is
more
envied
than
enviable,
under
your wing.
The nonchalance
with which
you dropped
in
on
Haber
is
pure
Elsa. Did
you
tell
anyone anything
about
it,
or
did
you
consult
only
with
your
wicked
heart? If
only
I could have
looked
on!
After the
Naturforscherversammlung,
that
is,
at
the
end
of
next month,
I will visit
your
family, i.e.,
you.[4]
Until
then,
don't
let the
time of
your
confinement
to
bed
hang
heavy
on your
hands,
but,
instead,
for
a change,
write
again
soon
to
your
Albert