D O C U M E N T 1 9 1 F E B R U A R Y 1 9 2 6 2 0 7 “Everything great is simple.” I do in general have more predisposition for the in- tellectual than for the emotional, and not just in music. In literature, for example, I have a special preference for Shaw, Spitteler, also Strindberg,[4] and precisely they are reproached for lack of emotion. However, it is certainly not true that I have no appreciation for emotions in art. I do, for example, hold Schumann & Chopin[5] in high regard.— As for the spring vacation, I would be very pleased if I can get together with you.[6] The only sticking point is the time of my holidays. They don’t begin—un- less I’m totally mistaken—until March 7. If you can wait that long, I will be ex- tremely happy to come. I am happy that you still remember that we had agreed to get together in Switzerland in the summer.[7] I am, of course, not absolutely fixated on Switzerland. If it doesn’t suit you well, I will be happy to come somewhere else however, I would like it best here. In the last few days I read a few of Bernard Shaw’s one-act plays. One of them is called: “Passion, Poison, and Petrifaction.”[8] It is totally indescribable nonsense. It could just as well have been written by a very minor writer, but presumably no one would have had the audacity to publish such a thing. However, it was surpassed by another one, the “Music Cure.”[9] Whereas the former piece still has a certain wit, this one is simply weak and, in fact, exceptionally weak. In contrast, the weakest parts of “Back to Methuselah”[10] are truly grandiose. I recommend that you stay away from said one-act plays if possi- ble they are not worth the time it takes to read them. At times, Shaw wrote some relatively strange stuff.— Please excuse the unsuitable stationery, whose transparency, as I have noticed to my horror, does not particularly foster legibility. Regards from your Teddy 191. From Mileva Einstein-Mariü [Zurich, 8 February 1926][1] Dear Albert, Today I will simply add a few words to the young rascal’s effusions.[2] I really greatly regret that you have broken so completely with Albert. That brings him to- tally into the other camp.[3] It would have done much more good if he occasionally got together with you and also felt your influence. It’s unfair for you to believe that I am to blame for everything.[4] Bear in mind what difficult conditions we have lived under. It was not a matter of wanting to live one way or another. We had to be
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