5 0 V O L U M E 8 , D O C U M E N T 3 3 2 a
From now on, you see, I can count on 13,000 marks remaining after deduction
of the high taxes, whereas in past years I had quite significant supplementary
earnings.[5]
If one takes the exchange rates into account along with the
circumstance that I also have to support my mother, even though this is not very
significant,[6]
it is necessary to save quite a lot, especially since something definite-
ly has to be put aside annually for my boys so that their schooling and higher edu-
cation are
secure.[7]
I am not even thinking about the grim prospects for my little
boy; one more reason for careful housekeeping. This year I sent my family over
8,000
marks;[8]
I can’t do that for the long term.
From this vantage point one must consider how my wife and the little boy should
be supported over the long term. This is a mystery to me, but I think that she cannot
under any condition start to manage an independent household again; she probably
won’t be able to recuperate enough for that anymore. Couldn’t the household per-
haps be completely dissolved and the furniture sold? But my wife won’t want that,
it cannot even be suggested to her. Besides, there is no hurry with that decision; we
can resolve that in 2 months when I am there.
It is moving that you and your wife are taking Albert into your
home.[9]
But I
would very much wish that he could be definitively accommodated very soon. I
would most prefer it at my sister’s, whom I value very much (Bramberg St. 16A).
I would not take any objection by my wife into account. She is compulsively hostile
and distrustful. Even opposition by the boy would not be important because he is
being influenced. It would be very nice for him there. I’ll also ask Besso, who
knows all the parties
involved.[10]
I was very glad that now the A[dler] affair has been taken up with such warmth.
Even if the matter only tips the balance slightly, it really is most welcome that our
Zurichers can be counted on when there is something decent for them to do. I am
curious how the matter will
fare.[11]
A.’s father thinks quite optimistically about the
outcome, as you probably
noticed.[12]
A. sent me a manuscript which, according to
his father, he is supposedly keenly enthusiastic about; but it is really worthless
sophistry, lawyerly methods in
physics.[13]
So you had a good nose with your harsh
professional judgment, as always in your assessment of people. You would have the
mettle to replace old Kappeler to a quite different degree than the former less en-
lightened despots of our Swiss schooling
system.[14]
It may well happen!
I am brooding over a manuscript on the quantum issue. It is a decisive step for-
ward; the matter leads in particular to specific mathematical problems, i.e., away
from endless
pondering.[15]
Warm greetings from your
A. Einstein.
Don’t seal your letters; they are always opened by the milit[ary]. Perhaps that’s the
reason why some letters did not arrive.