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the ice floe stands there unbroken; perhaps comparable to the one that probably lies
in that place where the unbiased would like to see mere editorial difficulties in the
problem of the continuum.
It is a pity that I couldn’t see Sommerfeld, either, when he was in Switzerland
this
fall.[5]
I was, at the time, particularly little disposed to making the acquaintance
of new people, stubborn and sluggish, the same way the work in my little office
goes.[6]
In this sleepiness it almost seems to me as if the embers of a dramatic play
about the innovation of a science ab imis
fundamentis,[7]
that I had lived through,
were now slowly burning out behind me.
But I also have little aptitude as a Philistine. To be sure, my little
grandson’s[8]
smile is one of the most profound realities to me; and sometimes Philistine worries
seize me whether I can transmit a trustworthy rhythm of life either to Vero or to
him.
Philistinism does at least suffice for my pen to have been pressed into my hand
precisely for the New Year. Better now, though, than not at all!
So, a good 1924 to you and yours, from your
Michele,
also on behalf of
Anna[9]
and the others.
Solovine[10]
asked me for your address. I have let him know how I am sending this
to you.
Dear Albert,
I would have liked to ask you long ago whether sometimes, and perhaps now
more than before, music hasn’t seemed more attractive to you than physics? Did
you have time to read The Brothers Karamozov by
Dostoyevsky?[11]
But these are
questions from someone who has just become a qualified lawyer and is in search
of a job, that is, he isn’t standing on firm ground yet! No harm done, as they say
here, and thus I wish you a fruitful new year and send you and yours my greetings,
also from my wife and
child,[12]
yours,
Vero.
184. To Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe
[Berlin,] 26 December 1923
Dear Mr. Anschütz,
I am only now in receipt of your gratifying letter because I was in
Holland.[1]
Well, you were right about the electron tube, after all, which naturally is by far the