4 4 2 D O C U M E N T S 5 1 5 , 5 1 6 A P R I L – M A Y 1 9 2 9 mention here just one of them: Prof. Sergei Hessen in Prague.[3] I am enclosing the letter he wrote to me. It should be easy for you to obtain from American savants a judgment regarding the value of this man’s work. There is another case concerning which I can perhaps soon provide you with more precise information.[4] In the meantime, kind regards, your 515. To Maurice Sciaky[1] [Berlin, after 27 April 1929][2] Your letter revealing your hard personal fate moved me very much, as did the noble reply you made to the frocked tribune.[3] In truth, for researchers fascinated by the subject, the real bearers of religious feeling are those who are free from the generally prevalent striving for power and luxury.[4] It is true that contemplation of the secrets of existence is accompanied by the greatest humility, but also by inde- pendence from others’ recognition and scolding. As a kindred spirit offers you, I greet you with sincere fellow-feeling, your A.E. 516. From Michele Besso Bern, early May 1929 Dear Albert, Except for a very few words, whose alteration I would like to suggest to you, I think your words conveyed by warm feeling are well-suited to both the honoree and the honorer.[1] The task that you assign to me as a quasi-expert also finds me un- prepared. I don’t know anything about the Special [theory of relativity], and the General has already been formulated by you far better than I could do it: it is the simple fidelity to the truth that is shown in the technician precisely by the fact that he benefits and develops more than appears in his own claim, and thereby fills ev- erything with creative life. From my letter to Zangger (a copy went to you ten days ago)[2] I quote from memory—and perhaps as a fragment of a letter from a pupil it might be publishable as an appendix to your words—the following:[3]