466
DOCS.
458,
459
FEBRUARY
1918
entirely self-evident,
though,
that
political
activity,
particularly
for
you,
is out
of
the
question.[1]
Otherwise,
I
am
pleased
to hear
about the
organization
established
by
Mr.
Weisbach.[2] I
am
all
the
more pleased
about
it
since
my
former
colleague
in
Heidelberg, Curtius[3]
whom
I
esteem
very highly,
is involved in it.
All
reason
has
thus
not
quite
abandoned
German academia
as completely as
it
may initially
appear,
after
all.[4]
If
only
one
could hear
a
bit about
it and take note of
it!
His-
torians
and jurists, at least
a
good
proportion of
the
more
liberal minds
among
the
former,[5]
gradually
are
drawing
attention
to themselves.
It
is
too formidable
a
task
to combine
the
essential
realistic
political requirements,
the factual
pos-
sibilities of
a war
situation
admittedly
unknown to
us,
and
the basic
political
and
moral
standards
while
remaining
sufficiently
up-to-date
in
the
changing
sit-
uation. But it
must be
tried,
and
what
is
primarily
lacking
in
Germany
is
the
moral
courage
of its intellectuals.[6]
It
is
a
pleasure
to
encounter
any
like-minded
person,
and
so
allow
me
to
express
herewith
my
thanks
and
appreciation.
Yours most
truly,
E.
Troeltsch.
459. To
Hedwig
Born
[Berlin,
8
February
1918][1]
Dear Mrs.
Born,
Your
long
letter with the
consoling expression
of sympathy
and
confidence
pleased
me
very
much. In
exchange,
I
also would
like
to
answer as
though I
were
talking
to
myself,
eradicating
completely
the
hideous
I-you
gulf.
Laue wants to
come
here. When
some
time
ago
he
had
prospects
of
receiving
a
kind
of
privately
endowed researcher
position
here
without
teaching obligations,[2]
he based his efforts
to
come
to
Berlin
on
his
distaste
for
teaching.
Now
that
this
plan
is apparently
not
materializing,
he
is
thinking
of
exchanging positions
with
your
husband.[3]
Therefore,
primary wish: “To
Berlin.” Motive:
ambition
(of
his
wife?).
Planck knows
about
it;
the
Ministry,
hardly
likely.
I
did
not
discuss
this
with Planck
yet.[4]
I
imagine
that
his efforts
are
aimed
at
becoming
Planck’s
successor.
The
poor
man! Nervous
vacillation.
Striving
after
a
goal
that
conflicts
starkly
with his
natural
desire for
a
calm
life
without
complicated
human
relations.[5] On
this,
please
read Andersen’s nice
little tale about the
snails.[6]
The
objective
likelihood
of Laue’s
plan being
realized
depends
on
two
conditions: