DOCS.
263,
264
OCTOBER
1916 253
thinking
of
you
and
caring
about
you.
Send Mama
my
kind
regards,
and
fond
kisses for
both
of
you
from
your
Papa.
I
would like
to
see
for
myself
how
our
little
tyke plays
chess!
264. To
Werner Weisbach
[Berlin,]
14
October
1916
Highly
esteemed
Colleague,[1]
Your
new
organization’s leanings
seem
to
me
entirely
above
criticism.[2] I
am
convinced
the
malady
of
our
times
is
that
moral ideals have almost lost
their
force. In short, Bismarck-Treitschke
personify
the
history of
the
ailment.[3]
And
now we are witnessing
the
crisis:
If Bismarck-Treitschke
emerge
with
the
glory
of
a foreign
victory,
then the
world will be
morally
contaminated
for
an
incalculable
amount
of time.
Humanity
will
then
have to endure
an
endless series
of
disloyalties
and abominable acts of
violence.
If Bismarck-Treitschke do not
meet
with
success, however, people
will
lose
faith
in
the
empty
ideal of
power
and
will
extend
the
principles
of
justice willingly
and
fairly
to
the
states. Then
our hotly pursued goal
of
an organization
of
states
eliminating war
(at
least for
Europe
and
America)
will
get implemented
in
a
short
time.[4]
I support
this
conviction
publicly,[5] even
though
I
am
very
aware
that
per-
sonal
advocacy
of
this
conviction
can
just
have
a
weak influence
on
the
masses
(including
professors!).[6]
As
depressing as
it
is,
victories
or
defeats abroad
are
decisive;
let
us
not delude ourselves
about that!
Therefore include
me on
your
list,
so
that
I
am
left with
the
consolation:
dixi et
salvavi animam
meam.[7]
With best
regards, yours truly,
A.
Einstein.
[4]Deleted
text
in draft
version: “This
is
my
conviction. And
yet,
I
hesitate
to
join
this
new
association.
This
is
the
reason:
Joining
an
association
means
offering up
time.
One must
thus
ask oneself
whether this time
will be
well
spent.”
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