part 2 cerita pun berawal dari sini

kiyaaa baru bisa nulis lagi, soalnnya kemaren" gue lagi sibuk biasa anaak sekolah tugas numpuk ga ada abisnya jadi ga sempet buat cerita lahi , and ini gue mau cerita , oke gue akan mulai dari mana yaa,
oke oke hari ini bener" ga ada inspirasi, sebenernya bukan ga ada inspirasi tapi gue nya lupa mau cerita apa, ya gue tau ini sebenernya kisah nyata tapi gue udah lupa tuh sam kejadian kejadiannya tapi oke gue akan mulai oke gue akan mulai dari mana yaa, udah aha gue mulai , let's read this

keesokan hari nya,
setelah semalaleman ga tidur bercanda dengan anak anak ya jelas lah badan gue udah capek banget udah gitu gue disurh ngurusin anak anak lagi haduuuh capek aja, tapi mau bagaimana lagi itu tugas gue ,
setelah selesai ngurusin anak anak gue  pengen pulang kebetulan gue sama kak yuni searah yauda di bareng gue, pada saat itu gue pulang bareng sama dia ,dan manah nanti gue harus ketumah guru gue lagi, kebetulan guru gue ada yang nikahan dan gue sebagai petugas kelas gue harus kesana ,
dan pas udah sampe ,gue:dimana ka rumahnya
kak yuni : disana didalem mau mampir gak?
gue:enggak ah udah capek soalnya yaudah ya pulang dulu
kak yuni: iyaa deh ati ati ya tau kan jalannya?
gue : iya tau yaudah ya dah
dan setelah sampai di rumah gue langsung tidur ,
and thaan sekitar jam sebelas gue terbangun gara gara telfon dari dia, dia LANGSUNG NGOMONG GINI Eh ade kamu kerumah pak ade ga? kita udah telat nih saya ketiduran kamu bisa jemput saya ga?
gue: yang dengan setengah sadr gue ,menjawab yaudah aku juga ketiduran aku mandi dulu ya, dan gue berjalan ke kamar mandi dengan setengah nyawa gue masih melayang layang ,
dan ternyata dengan enaknya her bilang ehga jadi lah kita udah di tinggal si ,,
oh yaudah , and gue baru sadar seenaknya dia bilang bisa jemput saya sekarang ga" ,anjirr enak amat itu ..
eh udah dulu ya ceritanya mau balik lagi nih kesekolah .
bye

suju dan snsd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uTiF4RV3qQ&feature=player_detailpage

City Hunter Ost Part 1 Love [ Full Version ] Korean Drama free mp3 downloads

City Hunter Ost Part 1 Love [ Full Version ] Korean Drama free mp3 downloads

Blog Siti Avirda: sebuah curhatan seorang remaja 1 'KESAN PERTAMA'

Blog Siti Avirda: sebuah curhatan seorang remaja 1 'KESAN PERTAMA': mau coba coba buat cerpen lah,kali aja jadi nanti jadi novel beneran hehe,baca cerita ini yaa, seru apa engga dan tinggalin commentnya, ceri...

sebuah curhatan seorang remaja 1 'KESAN PERTAMA'

mau coba coba buat cerpen lah,kali aja jadi nanti jadi novel beneran hehe,baca cerita ini yaa, seru apa engga dan tinggalin commentnya, ceritanya bakal panjang banget jadi nya gue buat per bagian-bagian, ,sebenernya ini sebuah kisah nyata dan konfliknya itu ribet rumit segala macem dah,tapi ada yang gue ganti" sedikit karena ga mau sebut " nama , oke deeh baca aja langsung

Ceritanya berawal dari pertama gue masuk sekolah waktu itu tahun 2010,gue masuk ke sebuah sekolah, yang pastinya sudah tradisi kalau setiap masuk ke sekolah baru pasti ada yang namanya Mos yap dan itu gue lakukan pastinya Mos itu berjalan sekitar 4 hari, gue di bimbing oleh kaka senior atau juga bisa disebut kaka kelas,iyalah kaka kelas masaa kakangkung hehe,yang namanya kaka kelas pasti ada yang baik ada yang lucu juga pastinya ada yang jahat upss galak deh maksud gue, pada saat itu ada seorang kaka kelas yang menurut gue baik, soalnya dia juga kak kelas gue waktu di SMP, pada saat mos itu gue dan temen gue sebut aja namnya Nur gue sama dia itu paling deket sama kaka itu sebuta aja namanya yuni , pada saat mos dia yang lebih memperhatikan adik adik kelasnya, dan pas kenalan 

gue: hai kak yuni kaka dulu alumni smp harja yaa?

kak yuni:iyaa ,kamu juga yaa

gue:iya kak pantesan kayak pernah ngeliat gituuu, 

kak yuni: oh,yang anak harja ada berapa ?

gue: ada 4 kak,, kaka ada dua yaa?

kak yuni: engga saya cuman sendiri kok,

gue:lah perasaan tadi saya ngeliat deh ada anak harja juga,

kak yuni :enggga yang mana emang?

gue:yang itu tuh, kayak pernah liat gicuu (gue menunjuk orang yang dimaksud )

kak yuni; itu mah si tiara ,dia mah orang mana kalii..

mulai dari saat itu hubungan kita semaki baik,

dan di sekolah smp gue ada acara orientasi ekskul gitu..

kebetulan kita sama sama anggota dari sebuah ekskul eh bukan sebuah deng karena kita berbeda ekskul jadi kedua ekskul hehehe gue mengikuti ekskul bela diri yaitu taekwondo dan dia paskibra, dan pada saat itu kita ketemu

gue:kaka nginep juga?

kak yuni:iyaa deh kayaknya ,kamu  nginep?

gue:iyaaa, deh kayaknya

kak yuni;ngikitin aja.

gue :apannya

kak yuni: itu tadi omongannya

gue:ooooooooooooooooh..yaudah mau keatas dulu ya..

pada saat malam itu kan kebetulan dia ga ada temennya dan kebetulan bukan kebetulan si kenyataann temen temen gue kan pada asik asik tuhjadi kita jadi cepet akrab sama kak yuni, dan kak yuni ikut gabung ke kelompok gue, temen temen gue ada yang namanya adi,erna,dan banyk tapi waktu itu kita berempat yang deket, dan ternyata si adi itu suka sam kak yuni, si adi mah emang playboy cap kampung , dia mah ama siapa aja juga mau ama kambing di dandanin juga mau ,padahal dia udah punya pacar loh, YAA sdasar emang si adi,

pada malam itu kita bercanda aja tuh padahal saya dan teman" baru kenal ka yuni bebrapa jam saja tapi kta udah dekeeeeet banget kayak udah kenal lama ,

situasinyaa adi: ah lu yun lu kayak yanga ada di spiteng aja tuh kalo ga kayak yang ada dikali yang kuning",

yuni: aha sial lu gendut,

gue and erna: haahahahha parah lu di

adi: abis baju warna kuning gitu

yuni:eh gendut ini tuh jaket bukan baju ,aah enduut

yaaa pokoknya sepanjang malam kita bercanda teruus padahal kita kan eharusnya ngejaga ade kelas kita bukan nya bercanda dan pada akhirnya kita malah membuat mereka terganggu dasaar,,

yah setelah orientasi itu hubungan kita semakin dekat (gue dan kak yuni) ya waktu itu gue mikinya gue yaa bukan dia , gue ngaggep dia sebagai kaka kelas gue gitu, dan iyaa gue pengen jadi temen dia gue fikir dia itu orangnya asik ga ngebosenin dan yang pastinya lucu,

dan cerita pun dimulai,(whaaat? baru cerita yang tadi apaaa dongggs? aduhh jangan gila deh }

bersambung ke part 2 soalnya gue bikin cerita ini pas udeh malem 

besok baru di lanjutkan lagi bye

Arti Dari IKHLAS

Apa Itu Ikhlas ?
“ Katakan , sesungguhnya sholat ku, ibadahku, hidupku dan matiku hanya untuk
Allah, seru sekalian alam, tiada sekutu baginya, dan demikianlah yang di
perintahkan kepadaku dan aku adalah orang yang pertama-tama menyerahkan
diri (kepada Allah).” (QS. Al-An’am : 162-163)
Ikhlas, adalah sebuah kata yang tak asing lagi di telinga kita. Kata
ikhlas sering digunakan dalam berbagai aktifitas hidup kita, mulai saat
bersedekah, beribadah, bekerja, berusaha, membantu orang lain,
berkeluarga, dan banyak aktifitas hidup lainnya. Kata ikhlas biasanya,
sering kita gunakan untuk menjelaskan tindakan-tindakan yang tidak
beroreintasi materil, tanpa pamrih dan tulus.
Tindakan yang disertai keikhlasan, sering membuat decak kagum
banyak orang, karena tindakan tersebut adalah bentuk pengorbanan diri
seseorang pada orang lain, tanpa berharap pamrih dari orang dibantunya.
Ternyata ikhlas bukan sembarang “kata”, makna ikhlas bagaikan sebuah
mantra yang mampu memberikan keajaiban dalam kehidupan manusia.
Karena manusia-manusia yang ikhlas, memiliki keistimewaankeistimewaan
tersendiri dalam hidupnya ”?”.
Kekuatan ikhlas, ternyata dapat memberikan perubahan positif dalam
kehidupan manusia. Kekuatan positif inilah yang membuat orang ikhlas,
selalu mendapatkan kemudahan-kemudahan dalam hidupnya. Orang
ikhlas hatinya, akan selalu di lapangkan hidupnya oleh Allah, jiwanya
selalu berserah diri pada pencipta-Nya. Sehingga beban-beban di
punggungnya, akan di ringankan oleh Allah dari beban-beban ujian yang
memberatkan hidupnya, semua kesulitannya akan di mudahkan oleh
Allah. Karena orang ikhlas selalu percaya, sesudah kesulitan pasti ada
kemudahan. Dan ia percaya, Allah akan selalu menolong hamba-hambanya yang
ikhlas.
Apa itu ikhlas? Bagaimana penggunaannya? Apa urgensinya sikap ikhlas
dalam kehidupan manusia? Kekuatan positif apa yang dimiliki oleh seorang
manusia, ketika dia bersikap ikhlas?.
Semua jawaban itu akan kita dapatkan, setelah kita memahami
makna ikhlas. Caranya yaitu dengan memahami makna ikhlas terlebih
dahulu, setelah itu baru kita akan mampu mengimplementasikan dalam
kehidupan sehar--hari. Dengan ikhlas, kita tak perlu lagi bergundah hati,
resah-gelisah, takut pada kemiskinan, kesempatan, penyakit dan
ketidakjelasan masa depan. Ikhlas dapat melapangkan kesempitan,
mempositifkan energi-energi negatif dalam diri, menghapuskan
kebencian, menghilangkan dendam, dan mendobrak segala bentuk
penyembahan-penyembahan pada Dunia, yang tak sedikit manusia
terjebak di dalamnya.
Dengan kemurnian ikhlas, seorang manusia dapat membebaskan
dirinya dari segala bentuk perbudakan Duniawi. Ia akan mampu
melepaskan dirinya dari segala penyembahan kepada selain Allah. Seperti
penyembahan pada materi, Uang, Harta benda, Wanita, Perhiasan,
Alkhohol, Narkoba, Birahi, Jabatan, Tahta, Kekuasaan, Tradisi, yang
selama ini banyak manusia terbukti terbudaki olehnya. Sesuai penjelasan
surat Al-an’am di atas, Sesungguhnya Shalatku, Ibadahku, Hidupku, dan
matiku hanya untuk Allah semata!, Inilah hakikat Ikhlas. Apalagi penjelasan
dalam Surat Al-fatihah.
“ Hanya Engkaulah (Allah) yang kami sembah, dan hanya kepada
Engkaulah (Allah) kami mohon pertolongan, “ (AL-Fatihah : 5)
Sebagai makhluk yang diciptakan oleh Sang Khalik, sudah
sepantasnyalah manusia hanya berhak menyembah, berharap, dan
memohon pertolongan hanya kepada Allah saja. Dan keikhlasan, adalah
pondasi awal untuk mencapai tujuan-tujuan tersebut. Tanpa keikhlasan,
kita tidak akan mampu mengendalikan hawa nafsu, agar tetap berada di
jalan lurus, jalan yang di ridhoi oleh Allah.
Sebab hanya dengan berserah diri pada kehendak Allah lah, hidup
manusia akan di selamatkan. Dan keikhlasan adalah kemurnian sikap yang
akan membuat manusia menjadi hamba Allah, bukan hamba nafsunya, bukan
hamba selain Allah, bukan hamba materialisme, sesuatu yang justru hanya
ciptaan-ciptaan Allah.
Kemurnian sikap, ucapan, dan perbuatan ikhlas inilah yang
membuat kata “ikhlas” bagaikan mantra yang mampu menghujam hati,
mengetarkan jiwa, dan sinarnya mampu memancarkan kekuatan positif
yang mampu menyelesaikan berbagai macam persoalan hidup. Sebab
hanya dengan berserah diri secara utuh kepada Allah lah, semua bebanbeban
hidup manusia akan di ringankan oleh-Nya.
Sungguh sombong manusia yang hanya menggantungkan
hidupnya pada dirinya sendiri, pada kekayaan materi yang di miliki, pada
kekuasaan politik maupun tradisi yang sandang, pada popularitas yang
membuai, pada ciptaan-ciptaan Allah yang keberadaannya sangat
bergantung pada Penciptanya. Sungguh tersesat, manusia yang tidak
menggantungkan hidupnya pada Allah, karena sesungguhnya manusia
adalah makhluk lemah yang tak memiliki daya dan upaya kecuali dia
hanya berserah diri pada Allah. Sebab, tak ada satu helai rambut pun
yang jatuh ke Bumi, tak ada satu lembar daun pun yang jatuh ke tanah,
kecuali atas seizin Allah. Kalau kita menyadari hal itu, lantas alasan
apalagi yang harus kita tunggu untuk tidak menyerahkan diri dan hidup
kita kepada Allah saja. Dan cara satu-satunya adalah dengan
mengikhlaskan hati.

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Instalasi Windows yang Mudah dan Menyenangkan

01. Back-up dahulu registry sebelum diedit. Caranya, klik Start|Run, ketik regedit. Setelah
muncul window registry, pilih menu File|Export. Pada bagian Export range, pilih All dan tentukan
nama file, akhiri dengan klik tombol Save.
02. Banyak program yang sebenarnya terinstalasi dalam Windows, namun tidak aktif. Untuk
mengaktifkannya, masuk ke Control Panel|Add/Remove Windows Component dan beri tanda
centang pada program yang belum aktif.
03. Sebelum menginstalasi program baru atau melakukan perubahan setting Windows secara
keseluruhan, lebih baik buat Restore Point secara manual dahulu. Caranya, Klik Start|All
Programs|Accessories|System Tool|System Restore dan klik Create a restore point.
04. Jika Anda memutuskan untuk menginstalasi Windows Update yang sebelumnya sudah
didecline, masuk ke Control Panel|System, pilih tab Automatic Updates dan klik Restore
Declined Updates.
05. Untuk mengatur Windows update berjalan sesuai dengan kebutuhan Anda, atur dulu
Windows Update. Caranya, buka System di Control Panel dan klik tab Automatic Updates. Atur
enable atau disable option Keep my computer up to date.
06. Bila Anda tidak memiliki CD bootable, jangan khawatir. Microsoft sudah menyediakan
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07. Jika saat instalasi Windows tiba-tiba terhenti, matikan komputer dan lepas card tambahan.
Misalnya sound card. Instal ulang dan pasang kembali card setelah instalasi selesai.
08. Untuk menambahkan System Administration Tools ada Start Menu, klik kanan
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and the Start Menu.


09. Untuk menginstal Back up Utility pada Windows XP Home Edition carilah file ntbackup.msi
di direktorivaludeaddmsftntbackup di CD instalasi Windows XP. Jalankan file tersebut dan ikuti
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10. Windows XP secara otomatis akan me-highlight setiap program baru yang ter-install. Cara
menghilangkannya, klik kanan Start|Properties. Masuk ke tab Start Menu|Customize, kemudian
klik tab Advanced dan hilangkan tanda centang pada opsi Highlight newly installed program.
11. Untuk tampilan film atau game terbaik pada komputer, pastikan bahwa DirextX terbaru
sudah terinstalasi dengan baik. Lihat versi terbarunya di www.microsoft.com/windows/directx.
12. Ada kalanya hardware yang akan dipasang belum support Plug-and-Play. Untuk itu,
gunakan Add Hardware Wizard yang ada di Control Panel|System|Hardware untuk
mendeteksinya.
TOP TIPS ! Mempercepat Kerja Komputer
13. Sebenarnya hanya dibutuhkan waktu tidak lebih dari 2 menit saja untuk masuk ke Windows
sejak komputer dihidupkan. Namun, kadang terasa sangat lama. Untuk mempercepat loading
Windows, ada beberapa hal yang bisa dilakukan. Misalnya, mengurangi icon di desktop serta
tidak menggunakan wallpaper yang memakan banyak memory. Ganti wallpaper dengan
background berwarna, serta gunakan Desktop Cleanup Wizard yang ada bisa ditemui dengan
klik kanan pada desktop untuk membersihkan
icon. Jangan lupa juga, jalankan defrag secara berkala.
Jika Anda sering menambah atau mengurangi program di komputer, bersihkan registry secara
rutin. Gunakan software bantu seperti Registry Mechanic dari situs www.winguides.com.
Sayangnya, versi trial program ini hanya bisa digunakan memperbaiki sebanyak 6 sections
saja.


Langkah lain yang perlu dilakukan adalah me-remove program yang di-load secara otomatis
saat memulai Windows. Tentu saja, hanya program-program yang tidak dibutuhkan. Caranya,
dengan menghapus semua isi folder startup dan membuka msconfig melalui Start|Run.
14. Gunakan fitur File and Transfer Setting Wizard untuk memindahkan file dan setting ke
komputer baru. Caranya, klik Start|AllPrograms|Accessories|System Tools, kemudian jalankan
File and Transfer Setting Wizard.
15. Gunakan pengecualian pada security setting di Internet Explorer, agar proses update
melalui halaman Windows Update berjalan lancar. Caranya, buka Internet Option di menu Tools
pada Internet Explorer. Klik tab Security, pilih Trusted Site dan klik tombol Sites. Isikan nama
situs Windows Update, hilangkan tanda centang pada option Require server verification dan klik
OK.
16. Jika Anda kehilangan serial number Windows XP, gunakan freeware Magical Jelly Bean
Keyfinder dari http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml.
17. Jika nama yang teregister dalam Windows XP Anda tidak sesuai, perbaiki melalui registry.
Caranya, buka registry dan pilih MY Computer. Klik menu Edit|Find dan ketik RegOwner. Jika
sudah ditemukan, klik kanan, pilih Modify dan isikan nama yang sesuai. Perubahan ini bisa juga
dilakukan di key RegCompany.

Albert Einstein The World AS i see it

1
THE WORLD AS I SEE IT
Albert Einstein
PREFACE TO ORIGINAL EDITION
Only individuals have a sense of responsibility. --Nietzsche
This book does not represent a complete collection of the articles, addresses,
and pronouncements of Albert Einstein; it is a selection made with a definite
object-- namely, to give a picture of a man. To-day this man is being drawn,
contrary to his own intention, into the whirlpool of political passions and
contemporary history. As a result, Einstein is experiencing the fate that so
many of the great men of history experienced: his character and opinions are
being exhibited to the world in an utterly distorted form.
To forestall this fate is the real object of this book. It meets a wish that has
constantly been expressed both by Einstein's friends and by the wider public.
It contains work belonging to the most various dates-- the article on "The
International of Science" dates from the year 1922, the address on "The
Principles of Scientific Research" from 1923, the "Letter to an Arab" from
1930--and the most various spheres, held together by the unity of the
personality which stands behind all these utterances. Albert Einstein believes
in humanity, in a peaceful world of mutual helpfulness, and in the high mission
of science. This book is intended as a plea for this belief at a time which
compels every one of us to overhaul his mental attitude and his ideas.
J. H.
2
INTRODUCTION TO ABRIDGED
EDITION
In his biography of Einstein Mr. H. Gordou Garbedian relates that an
American newspaper man asked the great physicist for a definition of his
theory of relativity in one sentence. Einstein replied that it would take him
three days to give a short definition of relativity. He might well have added
that unless his questioner had an intimate acquaintance with mathematics and
physics, the definition would be incomprehensible.
To the majority of people Einstein's theory is a complete mystery. Their
attitude towards Einstein is like that of Mark Twain towards the writer of a
work on mathematics: here was a man who had written an entire book of
which Mark could not understand a single sentence. Einstein, therefore, is
great in the public eye partly because he has made revolutionary discoveries
which cannot be translated into the common tongue. We stand in proper awe
of a man whose thoughts move on heights far beyond our range, whose
achievements can be measured only by the few who are able to follow his
reasoning and challenge his conclusions.
There is, however, another side to his personality. It is revealed in the
addresses, letters, and occasional writings brought together in this book.
These fragments form a mosaic portrait of Einstein the man. Each one is, in a
sense, complete in itself; it presents his views on some aspect of progress,
education, peace, war, liberty, or other problems of universal interest. Their
combined effect is to demonstrate that the Einstein we can all understand is no
less great than the Einstein we take on trust.
Einstein has asked nothing more from life than the freedom to pursue his
researches into the mechanism of the universe. His nature is of rare simplicity
and sincerity; he always has been, and he remains, genuinely indifferent to
wealth and fame and the other prizes so dear to ambition. At the same time he
is no recluse, shutting himself off from the sorrows and agitations of the world
around him. Himself familiar from early years with the handicap of poverty
and with some of the worst forms of man's inhumanity to man, he has never
spared himself in defence of the weak and the oppressed. Nothing could be
more unwelcome to his sensitive and retiring character than the glare of the
platform and the heat of public controversy, yet he has never hesitated when
he felt that his voice or influence would help to redress a wrong. History,
surely, has few parallels with this introspective mathematical genius who
laboured unceasingly as an eager champion of the rights of man.
3
Albert Einstein was born in 1879 at Ulm. When he was four years old his
father, who owned an electrochemical works, moved to Munich, and two
years later the boy went to school, experiencing a rigid, almost military, type
of discipline and also the isolation of a shy and contemplative Jewish child
among Roman Catholics-- factors which made a deep and enduring
impression. From the point of view of his teachers he was an unsatisfactory
pupil, apparently incapable of progress in languages, history, geography, and
other primary subjects. His interest in mathematics was roused, not by his
instructors, but by a Jewish medical student, Max Talmey, who gave him a
book on geometry, and so set him upon a course of enthusiastic study which
made him, at the age of fourteen, a better mathematician than his masters. At
this stage also he began the study of philosophy, reading and re-reading the
words of Kant and other metaphysicians.
Business reverses led the elder Einstein to make a fresh start in Milan, thus
introducing Albert to the joys of a freer, sunnier life than had been possible in
Germany. Necessity, however, made this holiday a brief one, and after a few
months of freedom the preparation for a career began. It opened with an
effort, backed by a certificate of mathematical proficiency given by a teacher
in the Gymnasium at Munich, to obtain admission to the Polytechnic Academy
at Zurich. A year passed in the study of necessary subjects which he had
neglected for mathematics, but once admitted, the young Einstein became
absorbed in the pursuit of science and philosophy and made astonishing
progress. After five distinguished years at the Polytechnic he hoped to step
into the post of assistant professor, but found that the kindly words of the
professors who had stimulated the hope did not materialize.
Then followed a weary search for work, two brief interludes of teaching, and
a stable appointment as examiner at the Confederate Patent Office at Berrie.
Humdrum as the work was, it had the double advantage of providing a
competence and of leaving his mind free for the mathematical speculations
which were then taking shape in the theory of relativity. In 1905 his first
monograph on the theory was published in a Swiss scientific journal, the
Annalen der Physik. Zurich awoke to the fact that it possessed a genius in
the form of a patent office clerk, promoted him to be a lecturer at the
University and four years later--in 1909--installed him as Professor.
His next appointment was (in 1911) at the University of Prague, where he
remained for eighteen months. Following a brief return to Zurich, he went,
early in 1914, to Berlin as a professor in the Prussian Academy of Sciences
and director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Theoretical Physics. The
period of the Great War was a trying time for Einstein, who could not conceal
his ardent pacifism, but he found what solace he could in his studies. Later
4
events brought him into the open and into many parts of the world, as an
exponent not only of pacifism but also of world-disarmament and the cause of
Jewry. To a man of such views, as passionately held as they were by Einstein,
Germany under the Nazis was patently impossible. In 1933 Einstein made his
famous declaration: "As long as I have any choice, I will stay only in a country
where political liberty, toleration, and equality of all citizens before the law are
the rule." For a time he was a homeless exile; after offers had come to him
from Spain and France and Britain, he settled in Princeton as Professor of
Mathematical and Theoretical Physics, happy in his work, rejoicing in a free
environment, but haunted always by the tragedy of war and oppression.
The World As I See It, in its original form, includes essays by Einstein on
relativity and cognate subjects. For reasons indicated above, these have been
omitted in the present edition; the object of this reprint is simply to reveal to
the general reader the human side of one of the most dominating figures of our
day.
5
I
The World As I See It
The Meaning of Life
What is the meaning of human life, or of organic life altogether? To answer
this question at all implies a religion. Is there any sense then, you ask, in
putting it? I answer, the man who regards his own life and that of his
fellow-creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost
disqualified for life.
The World as I see it
What an extraordinary situation is that of us mortals! Each of us is here for a
brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he
feels it. But from the point of view of daily life, without going deeper, we exist
for our fellow-men--in the first place for those on whose smiles and welfare all
our happiness depends, and next for all those unknown to us personally with
whose destinies we are bound up by the tie of sympathy. A hundred times
every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labours
of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in
the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. I am strongly
drawn to the simple life and am often oppressed by the feeling that I am
engrossing an unnecessary amount of the labour of my fellow-men. I regard
class differences as contrary to justice and, in the last resort, based on force. I
also consider that plain living is good for everybody, physically and mentally.
In human freedom in the philosophical sense I am definitely a disbeliever.
Everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance
with inner necessity. Schopenhauer's saying, that "a man can do as he will, but
not will as he will," has been an inspiration to me since my youth up, and a
continual consolation and unfailing well-spring of patience in the face of the
hardships of life, my own and others'. This feeling mercifully mitigates the
sense of responsibility which so easily becomes paralysing, and it prevents us
from taking ourselves and other people too seriously; it conduces to a view of
life in which humour, above all, has its due place.
To inquire after the meaning or object of one's own existence or of creation
generally has always seemed to me absurd from an objective point of view.
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And yet everybody has certain ideals which determine the direction of his
endeavours and his judgments. In this sense I have never looked upon ease
and happiness as ends in themselves--such an ethical basis I call more proper
for a herd of swine. The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time
after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth,
Goodness, and Beauty. Without the sense of fellowship with men of like mind,
of preoccupation with the objective, the eternally unattainable in the field of art
and scientific research, life would have seemed to me empty. The ordinary
objects of human endeavour--property, outward success, luxury--have
always seemed to me contemptible.
My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always
contrasted oddly with my pronounced freedom from the need for direct
contact with other human beings and human communities. I gang my own gait
and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my
immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties I have never
lost an obstinate sense of detachment, of the need for solitude--a feeling
which increases with the years. One is sharply conscious, yet without regret,
of the limits to the possibility of mutual understanding and sympathy with one's
fellow-creatures. Such a person no doubt loses something in the way of
geniality and light-heartedness ; on the other hand, he is largely independent of
the opinions, habits, and judgments of his fellows and avoids the temptation to
take his stand on such insecure foundations.
My political ideal is that of democracy. Let every man be respected as an
individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the
recipient of excessive admiration and respect from my fellows through no
fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire,
unattainable for many, to understand the one or two ideas to which I have
with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware
that it is necessary for the success of any complex undertaking that one man
should do the thinking and directing and in general bear the responsibility. But
the led must not be compelled, they must be able to choose their leader. An
autocratic system of coercion, in my opinion, soon degenerates. For force
always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule
that tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels. For this reason I have
always been passionately opposed to systems such as we see in Italy and
Russia to-day. The thing that has brought discredit upon the prevailing form of
democracy in Europe to-day is not to be laid to the door of the democratic
idea as such, but to lack of stability on the part of the heads of governments
and to the impersonal character of the electoral system. I believe that in this
respect the United States of America have found the right way. They have a
responsible President who is elected for a sufficiently long period and has
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sufficient powers to be really responsible. On the other hand, what I value in
our political system is the more extensive provision that it makes for the
individual in case of illness or need. The really valuable thing in the pageant of
human life seems to me not the State but the creative, sentient individual, the
personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such
remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.
This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military
system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation
to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been
given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This
plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed.
Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that does
by the name of patriotism--how I hate them! War seems to me a mean,
contemptible thing: I would rather be hacked in pieces than take part in such
an abominable business. And yet so high, in spite of everything, is my opinion
of the human race that I believe this bogey would have disappeared long ago,
had the sound sense of the nations not been systematically corrupted by
commercial and political interests acting through the schools and the Press.
The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental
emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who
knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good
as dead, a snuffed-out candle. It was the experience of mystery--even if
mixed with fear--that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of
something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest
reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in
their most elementary forms--it is this knowledge and this emotion that
constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a
deeply religious man. I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes
his creatures, or has a will of the type of which we are conscious in ourselves.
An individual who should survive his physical death is also beyond my
comprehension, nor do I wish it otherwise; such notions are for the fears or
absurd egoism of feeble souls. Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of
life, and the inkling of the marvellous structure of reality, together with the
single-hearted endeavour to comprehend a portion, be it never so tiny, of the
reason that manifests itself in nature.
The Liberty of Doctrine--à propos of the Guntbel Case
Academic chairs are many, but wise and noble teachers are few;
lecture-rooms are numerous and large, but the number of young people who
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genuinely thirst after truth and justice is small. Nature scatters her common
wares with a lavish hand, but the choice sort she produces but seldom.
We all know that, so why complain? Was it not ever thus and will it not ever
thus remain? Certainly, and one must take what Nature gives as one finds it.
But there is also such a thing as a spirit of the times, an attitude of mind
characteristic of a particular generation, which is passed on from individual to
individual and gives a society its particular tone. Each of us has to do his little
bit towards transforming this spirit of the times.
Compare the spirit which animated the youth in our universities a hundred
years ago with that prevailing to-day. They had faith in the amelioration of
human society, respect for every honest opinion, the tolerance for which our
classics had lived and fought. In those days men strove for a larger political
unity, which at that time was called Germany. It was the students and the
teachers at the universities who kept these ideals alive.
To-day also there is an urge towards social progress, towards tolerance and
freedom of thought, towards a larger political unity, which we to-day call
Europe. But the students at our universities have ceased as completely as their
teachers to enshrine the hopes and ideals of the nation. Anyone who looks at
our times coolly and dispassionately must admit this.
We are assembled to-day to take stock of ourselves. The external reason for
this meeting is the Gumbel case. This apostle of justice has written about
unexpiated political crimes with devoted industry, high courage, and
exemplary fairness, and has done the community a signal service by his
books. And this is the man whom the students, and a good many of the staff,
of his university are to-day doing their best to expel.
Political passion cannot be allowed to go to such lengths. I am convinced that
every man who reads Herr Gumbel's books with an open mind will get the
same impression from them as I have. Men like him are needed if we are ever
to build up a healthy political society.
Let every man judge according to his own standards, by what he has himself
read, not by what others tell him.
If that happens, this Gumbel case, after an unedifying beginning, may still do
good.
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Good and Evil
It is right in principle that those should be the best loved who have contributed
most to the elevation of the human race and human life. But, if one goes on to
ask who they are, one finds oneself in no inconsiderable difficulties. In the
case of political, and even of religious, leaders, it is often very doubtful
whether they have done more good or harm. Hence I most seriously believe
that one does people the best service by giving them some elevating work to
do and thus indirectly elevating them. This applies most of all to the great
artist, but also in a lesser degree to the scientist. To be sure, it is not the fruits
of scientific research that elevate a man and enrich his nature, but the urge to
understand, the intellectual work, creative or receptive. It would surely be
absurd to judge the value of the Talmud, for instance, by its intellectual fruits.
The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure
and the sense in which he has attained to liberation from the self.
Society and Personality
When we survey our lives and endeavours we soon observe that almost the
whole of our actions and desires are bound up with the existence of other
human beings. We see that our whole nature resembles that of the social
animals. We eat food that others have grow, wear clothes that others have
made, live in houses that others have built. The greater part of our knowledge
and beliefs has been communicated to us by other people through the medium
of a language which others have created. Without language our mental
capacities wuuld be poor indeed, comparable to those of the higher animals;
we have, therefore, to admit that we owe our principal advantage over the
beasts to the fact of living in human society. The individual, if left alone from
birth would remain primitive and beast-like in his thoughts and feelings to a
degree that we can hardly conceive. The individual is what he is and has the
significance that he has not so much in virtue of his individuality, but rather as a
member of a great human society, which directs his material and spiritual
existence from the cradle to the grave.
A man's value to the community depends primarily on how far his feelings,
thoughts, and actions are directed towards promoting the good of his fellows.
We call him good or bad according to how he stands in this matter. It looks at
first sight as if our estimate of a man depended entirely on his social qualities.
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And yet such an attitude would be wrong. It is clear that all the valuable
things, material, spiritual, and moral, which we receive from society can be
traced back through countless generations to certain creative individuals. The
use of fire, the cultivation of edible plants, the steam engine--each was
discovered by one man.
Only the individual can think, and thereby create new values for society--nay,
even set up new moral standards to which the life of the community conforms.
Without creative, independently thinking and judging personalities the upward
development of society is as unthinkable as the development of the individual
personality without the nourishing soil of the community.
The health of society thus depends quite as much on the independence of the
individuals composing it as on their close political cohesion. It has been said
very justly that Græco-Europeo-American culture as a whole, and in
particular its brilliant flowering in the Italian Renaissance, which put an end to
the stagnation of mediæval Europe, is based on the liberation and comparative
isolation of the individual.
Let us now consider the times in which we live. How does society fare, how
the individual? The population of the civilized countries is extremely dense as
compared with former times; Europe to-day contains about three times as
many people as it did a hundred years ago. But the number of great men has
decreased out of all proportion. Only a few individuals are known to the
masses as personalities, through their creative achievements. Organization has
to some extent taken the place of the great man, particularly in the technical
sphere, but also to a very perceptible extent in the scientific.
The lack of outstanding figures is particularly striking in the domain of art.
Painting and music have definitely degenerated and largely lost their popular
appeal. In politics not only are leaders lacking, but the independence of spent
and the sense of justice of the citizen have to a great extent declined. The
democratic, parliamentarian regime, which is based on such independence,
has in many places been shaken, dictatorships have sprung up and are
tolerated, because men's sense of the dignity and the rights of the individual is
no longer strong enough. In two weeks the sheep-like masses can be worked
up by the newspapers into such a state of excited fury that the men are
prepared to put on uniform and kill and be billed, for the sake of the worthless
aims of a few interested parties. Compulsory military service seems to me the
most disgraceful symptom of that deficiency in personal dignity from which
civilized mankind is suffering to-day. No wonder there is no lack of prophets
who prophesy the early eclipse of our civilization. I am not one of these
pessimists; I believe that better times are coming. Let me shortly state my
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reasons for such confidence.
In my opinion, the present symptoms of decadence are explained by the fact
that the development of industry and machinery has made the struggle for
existence very much more severe, greatly to the detriment of the free
development of the individual. But the development of machinery means that
less and less work is needed from the individual for the satisfaction of the
community's needs. A planned division of labour is becoming more and more
of a crying necessity, and this division will lead to the material security of the
individual. This security and the spare time and energy which the individual will
have at his command can be made to further his development. In this way the
community may regain its health, and we will hope that future historians will
explain the morbid symptoms of present-day society as the childhood ailments
of an aspiring humanity, due entirely to the excessive speed at which
civilization was advancing.
Address at the Grave of H. A. Lorentz
It is as the representative of the German-speaking academic world, and in
particular the Prussian Academy of Sciences, but above all as a pupil and
affectionate admirer that I stand at the grave of the greatest and noblest man
of our times. His genius was the torch which lighted the way from the
teachings of Clerk Maxwell to the achievements of contemporary physics, to
the fabric of which he contributed valuable materials and methods.
His life was ordered like a work of art down to the smallest detail. His
never-failing kindness and magnanimity and his sense of justice, coupled with
an intuitive understanding of people and things, made him a leader in any
sphere he entered. Everyone followed him gladly, for they felt that he never
set out to dominate but always simply to be of use. His work and his example
will live on as an inspiration and guide to future generations.
H. A. Lorentz's work in the cause of International
Co-operation
With the extensive specialization of scientific research which the nineteenth
century brought about, it has become rare for a man occupying a leading
position in one of the sciences to manage at the same time to do valuable
service to the community in the sphere of international organization and
international. politics. Such service demands not only energy, insight, and a
reputation based on solid achievements, but also a freedom from national
prejudice and a devotion to the common ends of all, which have become rare
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in our times. I have met no one who combined all these qualities in himself so
perfectly as H. A. Lorentz. The marvellous thing about the effect of his
personality was this: Independent and headstrong natures, such as are
particularly common among men of learning, do not readily bow to another's
will and for the most part only accept his leadership grudgingly. But, when
Lorentz is in the presidential chair, an atmosphere of happy co-operation is
invariably created, however much those present may differ in their aims and
habits of thought. The secret of this success lies not only in his swift
comprehension of people and things and his marvellous command of
language, but above all in this, that one feels that his whole heart is in the
business in hand, and that, when he is at work, he has room for nothing else in
his mind. Nothing disarms the recalcitrant so much as this.
Before the war Lorentz's activities in the cause of international relations were
confined to presiding at congresses of physicists. Particularly noteworthy
among these were the Solvay Congresses, the first two of which were held at
Brussels in 1909 and 1912. Then came the European war, which was a
crushing blow to all who had the improvement of human relations in general at
heart. Even before the war was over, and still more after its end, Lorentz
devoted himself to the work of reconciliation. His efforts were especially
directed towards the re-establishment of fruitful and friendly co-operation
between men of learning and scientific societies. An outsider can hardly
conceive what uphill work this is. The accumulated resentment of the war
period has not yet died down, and many influential men persist in the
irreconcilable attitude into which they allowed themselves to be driven by the
pressure of circumstances. Hence Lorentz's efforts resemble those of a doctor
with a recalcitrant patient who refuses to take the medicines carefully
prepared for his benefit.
But Lorentz is not to be deterred, once he has recognized a course of action
as the right one. The moment the war was over, he joined the governing body
of the "Conseil de recherche," which was founded by the savants of the
victorious countries, and from which the savants and learned societies of the
Central Powers were excluded. His object in taking this step, which caused
great offence to the academic world of the Central Powers, was to influence
this institution in such a way that it could be expanded into something truly
international. He and other right-minded men succeeded, after repeated
efforts, in securing the removal of the offensive exclusion-clause from the
statutes of the "Conseil." The goal, which is the restoration of normal and
fruitful co-operation between learned societies, is, however, not yet attained,
because the academic world of the Central Powers, exasperated by nearly
ten years of exclusion from practically all international gatherings, has got into
a habit of keeping itself to itself. Now, however, there are good grounds for
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hoping that the ice will soon be broken, thanks to the tactful efforts of
Lorentz, prompted by pure enthusiasm for the good cause.
Lorentz has also devoted his energies to the service of international cultural
ends in another way, by consenting to serve on the League of Nations
Commission for international intellectual co-operation, which was called into
existence some five years ago with Bergson as chairman. For the last year
Lorentz has presided over the Commission, which, with the active support of
its subordinate, the Paris Institute, is to act as a go-between in the domain of
intellectual and artistic work among the various spheres of culture. There too
the beneficent influence of this intelligent, humane, and modest personality,
whose unspoken but faithfully followed advice is, "Not mastery but service,"
will lead people in the right way.
May his example contribute to the triumph of that spirit !
In Honour of Arnold Berliner's Seventieth Birthday
(Arnold Berliner is the editor of the periodical Die
Naturrvissenschaften.)
I should like to take this opportunity of telling my friend Berliner and the
readers of this paper why I rate him and his work so highly. It has to be done
here because it is one's only chance of getting such things said; since our
training in objectivity has led to a taboo on everything personal, which we
mortals may transgress only on quite exceptional occasions such as the
present one.
And now, after this dash for liberty, back to the objective! The province of
scientifically determined fact has been enormously extended, theoretical
knowledge has become vastly more profound in every department of science.
But the assimilative power of the human intellect is and remains strictly limited.
Hence it was inevitable that the activity of the individual investigator should be
confined to a smaller and smaller section of human knowledge. Worse still, as
a result of this specialization, it is becoming increasingly difficult for even a
rough general grasp of science as a whole, without which the true spirit of
research is inevitably handicapped, to keep pace with progress. A situation is
developing similar to the one symbolically represented in the Bible by the
story of the Tower of Babel. Every serious scientific worker is painfully
conscious of this involuntary relegation to an ever-narrowing sphere of
knowledge, which is threatening to deprive the investigator of his broad
horizon and degrade him to the level of a mechanic.
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We have all suffered under this evil, without making any effort to mitigate it.
But Berliner has come to the rescue, as far as the German-speaking world is
concerned, in the most admirable way: He saw that the existing popular
periodicals were sufficient to instruct and stimulate the layman; but he also
saw that a first-class, well-edited organ was needed for the guidance of the
scientific worker who desired to be put sufficiently au courant of
developments in scientific problems, methods, and results to be able to form a
judgment of his own. Through many years of hard work he has devoted
himself to this object with great intelligence and no less great determination,
and done us all, and science, a service for which we cannot be too grateful.
It was necessary for him to secure the co-operation of successful scientific
writers and induce them to say what they had to say in a form as far as
possible intelligible to non-specialists. He has often told me of the fights he
had in pursuing this object, the difficulties of which he once described to me in
the following riddle: Question : What is a scientific author? Answer: A cross
between a mimosa and a porcupine.* Berliner's achievement would have
been impossible but for the peculiar intensity of his longing for a clear,
comprehensive view of the largest possible area of scientific country. This
feeling also drove him to produce a text-book of physics, the fruit of many
years of strenuous work, of which a medical student said to me the other day:
"I don't know how I should ever have got a clear idea of the principles of
modern physics in the time at my disposal without this book."
Berliner's fight for clarity and comprehensiveness of outlook has done a great
deal to bring the problems, methods, and results of science home to many
people's minds. The scientific life of our time is simply inconceivable vzthout
his paper. It is just as important to make knowledge live and to keep it alive
as to solve specific problems. We are all conscious of what we owe to
Arnold Berliner.
*Do not be angry with me for this indiscretion, my dear Berliner. A
serious-minded man enjoys a good laugh now and then.
Popper-Lynhaus was more than a brilliant engineer and writer. He was one
of the few outstanding personalities who embody the conscience of a
generation. He has drummed it into us that society is responsible for the fate
of every individual and shown us a way to translate the consequent obligation
of the community into fact. The community or State was no fetish to him; he
based its right to demand sacrifices of the individual entirely on its duty to give
the individual personality a chance of harmonious development.
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Obituary of the Surgeon, M. Katzenstein
During the eighteen years I spent in Berlin I had few close friends, and the
closest was Professor Katzenstein. For more than ten years I spent my leisure
hours during the summer months with him, mostly on his delightful yacht.
There we confided our experiences, ambitions, emotions to each other. We
both felt that this friendship was not only a blessing because each understood
the other, was enriched by him, and found ins him that responsive echo so
essential to anybody who is truly alive; it also helped to make both of us more
independent of external experience, to objectivize it more easily.
I was a free man, bound neither by many duties nor by harassing
responsibilities; my friend, on the contrary, was never free from the grip of
urgent duties and anxious fears for the fate of those in peril. If, as was
invariably the case, he had performed some dangerous operations in the
morning, he would ring up on the telephone, immediately before we got into
the boat, to enquire after the condition of the patients about whom he was
worried; I could see how deeply concerned he was for the lives entrusted to
his care. It was marvellous that this shackled outward existence did not clip
the wings of his soul; his imagination and his sense of humour were
irrepressible. He never became the typical conscientious North German,
whom the Italians in the days of their freedom used to call bestia seriosa. He
was sensitive as a youth to the tonic beauty of the lakes and woods of
Brandenburg, and as he sailed the boat with an expert hand through these
beloved and familiar surroundings he opened the secret treasure-chamber of
his heart to me--he spoke of his experiments, scientific ideas, and ambitions.
How he found time and energy for them was always a mystery to me; but the
passion for scientific enquiry is not to be crushed by any burdens. The man
who is possessed with it perishes sooner than it does.
There were two types of problems that engaged his attention. The first forced
itself on him out of the necessities of his practice. Thus he was always thinking
out new ways of inducing healthy muscles to take the place of lost ones, by
ingenious transplantation of tendons. He found this remarkably easy, as he
possessed an uncommonly strong spatial imagination and a remarkably sure
feeling for mechanism. How happy he was when he had succeeded in making
somebody fit for normal life by putting right the muscular system of his face,
foot, or arm! And the same when he avoided an operation, even in cases
which had been sent to him by physicians for surgical treatment in cases of
gastric ulcer by neutralizing the pepsin. He also set great store by the
treatment of peritonitis by an anti-toxic coli-serum which he discovered, and
rejoiced in the successes he achieved with it. In talking of it he often lamented
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the fact that this method of treatment was not endorsed by his colleagues.
The second group of problems had to do with the common conception of an
antagonism between different sorts of tissue. He believed that he was here on
the track of a general biological principle of widest application, whose
implications he followed out with admirable boldness and persistence. Starting
out from this basic notion he discovered that osteomyelon and periosteum
prevent each other's growth if they are not separated from each other by
bone. In this way he succeeded in explaining hitherto inexplicable cases of
wounds ailing to heal, and in bringing about a cure.
This general notion of the antagonism of the tissues, especially of epithelium
and connective tissue, was the subject to which he devoted his scientific
energies, especially in the last ten years of his life. Experiments on animals and
a systematic investigation of the growth of tissues in a nutrient fluid were
carried out side by side. How thankful he was, with his hands tied as they
were by his duties, to have found such an admirable and infinitely enthusiastic
fellow-worker in Frälein Knake! He succeeded in securing wonderful results
bearing on the factors which favour the growth of epithelium at the expense of
that of connective tissue, results which may well be of decisive importance for
the study of cancer. He also had the pleasure of inspiring his own son to
become his intelligent and independent fellow-worker, and of exciting the
warm interest and co-operation of Sauerbruch just in the last years of his life,
so that he was able to die with the consoling thought that his life's work would
not perish, but would be vigorously continued on the lines he had laid down.
I for my part am grateful to fate for having given me this man, with his
inexhaustible goodness and high creative gifts, for a friend.
Congratulations to Dr. Solf
I am delighted to be able to offer you, Dr. Solf, the heartiest congratulations,
the congratulations of Lessing College, of which you have become an
indispensable pillar, and the congratulations of all who are convinced of the
need for close contact between science and art and the public which is hungry
for spiritual nourishment.
You have not hesitated to apply your energies to a field where there are no
laurels to be won, but quiet, loyal work to be done in the interests of the
general standard of intellectual and spiritual life, which is in peculiar danger
to-day owing to a variety of circumstances. Exaggerated respect for athletics,
an excess of coarse impressions which the complications of life through the
technical discoveries of recent years has brought with it, the increased severity
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of the struggle for existence due to the economic crisis, the brutalization of
political life--all these factors are hostile to the ripening of the character and
the desire for real culture, and stamp our age as barbarous, materialistic, and
superficial. Specialization in every sphere of intellectual work is producing an
everwidening gulf between the intellectual worker and the non-specialist,
which makes it more difficult for the life of the nation to be fertilized and
enriched by the achievements of art and science.
But contact between the intellectual and the masses must not be lost. It is
necessary for the elevation of society and no less so for renewing the strength
of the intellectual worker; for the flower of science does not grow in the
desert. For this reason you, Herr Solf, have devoted a portion of your
energies to Lessing College, and we are grateful to you for doing so. And we
wish you further success and happiness in your work for this noble cause.
Of Wealth
I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity
forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The
example of great and pure characters is the only thing that can produce fine
ideas and noble deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and always tempts
its owners irresistibly to abuse it.
Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus, or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of
Carnegie?
Education and Educators
A letter.
Dear Miss _____,
I have read about sixteen pages of your manuscript and it made
me--smile. It is clever, well observed, honest, it stands on its
own feet up to a point, and yet it is so typically feminine, by
which I mean derivative and vitiated by personal rancour. I
suffered exactly the same treatment at the hands of my teachers,
who disliked me for my independence and passed me over
when they wanted assistants (I must admit that I was somewhat
less of a model student than you). But it would not have been
worth my while to write anything about my school life, still less
would I have liked to be responsible for anyone's printing or
actually reading it. Besides, one always cuts a poor figure if one
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complains about others who are struggling for their place in the
sun too after their own fashion.
Therefore pocket your temperament and keep your manuscript
for your sons and daughters, m order that they may derive
consolation from it and--not give a damn for what their teachers
tell them or think of them.
Incidentally I am only coming to Princeton to research, not to
teach. There is too much education altogether, especially in
American schools. The only rational way of educating is to be an
example--of what to avoid, if one can't be the other sort.
With best wishes.
To the Schoolchildren of Japan
In sending this greeting to you Japanese schoolchildren, I can lay claim to a
special right to do so. For I have myself visited your beautiful country, seen its
cities and houses, its mountains and woods, and in them Japanese boys who
had learnt from them to love their country. A big fat book full of coloured
drawings by Japanese children lies always on my table.
If you get my message of greeting from all this distance, bethink you that ours
is the first age in history to bring about friendly and understanding intercourse
between people of different countries; in former times nations passed their
lives in mutual ignorance, and in fact hated or feared one another. May the
spirit of brotherly understanding gain ground more and more among them.
With this in mind I, an old man, greet you Japanese schoolchildren from afar
and hope that your generation may some day put mine to shame.
Teachers and Pupils
An address to children
(The principal art of the teacher is to awaken the joy in creation
and knowledge.)
My dear Children,
I rejoice to see you before me to-day, happy youth of a sunny and fortunate
land.
19
Bear in mind that the wonderful things you learn in your schools are the work
of many generations, produced by enthusiastic effort and infinite labour in
every country of the world. All this is put into your hands as your inheritance
in order that you may receive it, honour it, add to it, and one day faithfully
hand it on to your children. Thus do we mortals achieve immortality in the
permanent things which we create in common.
If you always keep that in mind you will find a meaning in life and work and
acquire the right attitude towards other nations and ages.
Paradise Lost
As late as the seventeenth century the savants and artists of all Europe were
so closely united by the bond of a common ideal that co-operation between
them was scarcely affected by political events. This unity was further
strengthened by the general use of the Latin language.
To-day we look back at this state of affairs as at a lost paradise. The passions
of nationalism have destroyed this community of the intellect, and the Latin
language, which once united the whole world, is dead. The men of learning
have become the chief mouthpieces of national tradition and lost their sense of
an intellectual commonwealth.
Nowadays we are faced with the curious fact that the politicians, the practical
men of affairs, have become the exponents of international ideas. It is they
who have created the League of Nations.
Religion and Science
Everything that the human race has done and thought is concerned with the
satisfaction of felt needs and the assuagement of pain. One has to keep this
constantly in mind if one wishes to understand spiritual movements and their
development. Feeling and desire are the motive forces behind all human
endeavour and human creation, in however exalted a guise the latter may
present itself to us. Now what are the feelings and needs that have led men to
religious thought and belief in the widest sense of the words? A little
consideration will suffice to show us that the most varying emotions preside
over the birth of religious thought and experience. With primitive man it is
above all fear that evokes religious notions--fear of hunger, wild beasts,
sickness, death. Since at this stage of existence understanding of causal
connexions is usually poorly developed, the human mind creates for itself
more or less analogous beings on whose wills and actions these fearful
20
happenings depend. One's object now is to secure the favour of these beings
by carrying out actions and offering sacrifices which, according to the tradition
handed down from generation to generation, propitiate them or make them
well disposed towards a mortal. I am speaking now of the religion of fear.
This, though not created, is in an important degree stabilized by the formation
of a special priestly caste which sets up as a mediator between the people and
the beings they fear, and erects a hegemony on this basis. In many cases the
leader or ruler whose position depends on other factors, or a privileged class,
combines priestly functions with its secular authority in order to make the
latter more secure; or the political rulers and the priestly caste make common
cause in their own interests.
The social feelings are another source of the crystallization of religion. Fathers
and mothers and the leaders of larger human communities are mortal and
fallible. The desire for guidance, love, and support prompts men to form the
social or moral conception of God. This is the God of Providence who
protects, disposes, rewards, and punishes, the God who, according to the
width of the believer's outlook, loves and cherishes the life of the tribe or of
the human race, or even life as such, the comforter in sorrow and unsatisfied
longing, who preserves the souls of the dead. This is the social or moral
conception of God.
The Jewish scriptures admirably illustrate the development from the religion of
fear to moral religion, which is continued in the New Testament. The religions
of all civilized peoples, especially the peoples of the Orient, are primarily
moral religions. The development from a religion of fear to moral religion is a
great step in a nation's life. That primitive religions are based entirely on fear
and the religions of civilized peoples purely on morality is a prejudice against
which we must be on our guard. The truth is that they are all intermediate
types, with this reservation, that on the higher levels of social life the religion of
morality predominates.
Common to all these types is the anthropomorphic character of their
conception of God. Only individuals of exceptional endowments and
exceptionally high-minded communities, as a general rule, get in any real sense
beyond this level. But there is a third state of religious experience which
belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form, and which
I will call cosmic religious feeling. It is very difficult to explain this feeling to
anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic
conception of God corresponding to it.
The individual feels the nothingness of human desires and aims and the
sublimity and marvellous order which reveal themselves both in nature and in
21
the world of thought. He looks upon individual existence as a sort of prison
and wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole. The
beginnings of cosmic religious feeling already appear in earlier stages of
development--e.g., in many of the Psalms of David and in some of the
Prophets. Buddhism, as we have learnt from the wonderful writings of
Schopenhauer especially, contains a much stronger element of it.
The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of
religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's
image; so that there can be no Church whose central teachings are based on
it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who
were filled with the highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases
regarded by their contemporaries as Atheists, sometimes also as saints.
Looked at in this light, men like Democritus, Francis of Assisi, and Spinoza
are closely akin to one another.
How can cosmic religious feeling be communicated from one person to
another, if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology? In
my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this
feeling and keep it alive in those who are capable of it.
We thus arrive at a conception of the relation of science to religion very
different from the usual one. When one views the matter historically one is
inclined to look upon science and religion as irreconcilable antagonists, and
for a very obvious reason. The man who is thoroughly convinced of the
universal operation of the law of causation cannot for a moment entertain the
idea of a being who interferes in the course of events--that is, if he takes the
hypothesis of causality really seriously. He has no use for the religion of fear
and equally little for social or moral religion. A God who rewards and
punishes is inconceivable to him for the simple reason that a man's actions are
determined by necessity, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot
be responsible, any more than an inanimate object is responsible for the
motions it goes through. Hence science has been charged with undermining
morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behaviour should be based
effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is
necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by
fear and punishment and hope of reward after death.
It is therefore easy to see why the Churches have always fought science and
persecuted its devotees. On the other hand, I maintain that cosmic religious
feeling is the strongest and noblest incitement to scientific research. Only those
who realize the immense efforts and, above all, the devotion which pioneer
work in theoretical science demands, can grasp the strength of the emotion
22
out of which alone such work, remote as it is from the immediate realities of
life, can issue. What a deep conviction of the rationality of the universe and
what a yearning to understand, were it but a feeble reflection of the mind
revealed in this world, Kepler and Newton must have had to enable them to
spend years of solitary labour in disentangling the principles of celestial
mechanics! Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived
chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notion of the
mentality of the men who, surrounded by a sceptical world, have shown the
way to those like-minded with themselves, scattered through the earth and the
centuries. Only one who has devoted his life to similar ends can have a vivid
realization of what has inspired these men and given them the strength to
remain true to their purpose in spite of countless failures. It is cosmic religious
feeling that gives a man strength of this sort. A contemporary has said, not
unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are
the only profoundly religious people.
The Religiousness of Science
You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without
a peculiar religious feeling of his own. But it is different from the religion of the
naive man. For the latter God is a being from whose care one hopes to benefit
and whose punishment one fears; a sublimation of a feeling similar to that of a
child for its father, a being to whom one stands to some extent in a personal
relation, however deeply it may be tinged with awe.
But the scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation. The future,
to him, is every whit as necessary and determined as the past. There is nothing
divine about morality, it is a purely human affair. His religious feeling takes the
form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals
an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic
thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. This
feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work, in so far as he succeeds in
keeping himself from the shackles of selfish desire. It is beyond question
closely akin to that which has possessed the religious geniuses of all ages.
The Plight of Science
The German-speaking countries are menaced by a danger to which those in
the know are in duty bound to call attention in the most emphatic terms. The
economic stress which political events bring in their train does not hit
everybody equally hard. Among the hardest hit are the institutions and
individuals whose material existence depends directly on the State. To this
category belong the scientific institutions and workers on whose work not
23
merely the well-being of science but also the position occupied by Germany
and Austria in the scale of culture very largely depends.
To grasp the full gravity of the situation it is necessary to bear in mind the
following consideration. In times of crisis people are generally blind to
everything outside their immediate necessities. For work which is directly
productive of material wealth they will pay. But science, if it is to flourish, must
have no practical end in view. As a general rule, the knowledge and the
methods which it creates only subserve practical ends indirectly and, in many
cases, not till after the lapse of several generations. Neglect of science leads
to a subsequent dearth of intellectual workers able, in virtue of their
independent outlook and judgment, to blaze new trails for industry or adapt
themselves to new situations. Where scientific enquiry is stunted the
intellectual life of the nation dries up, which means the withering of many
possibilities of future development. This is what we have to prevent. Now that
the State has been weakened as a result of nonpolitical causes, it is up to the
economically stronger members of the community to come to the rescue
directly, and prevent the decay of scientific life.
Far-sighted men with a clear understanding of the situation have set up
institutions by which scientific work of every sort is to be kept going in
Germany and Austria. Help to make these efforts a real success. In my
teaching work I see with admiration that economic troubles have not yet
succeeded in stifling the will and the enthusiasm for scientific research. Far
from it! Indeed, it looks as if our disasters had actually quickened the
devotion to non-material goods. Everywhere people are working with burning
enthusiasm in the most difficult circumstances. See to it that the will-power
and the talents of the youth of to-day do not perish to the grievous hurt of the
community as a whole.
Fascism and Science
A letter to Signor Rocco, Minister of State, Rome.
My dear Sir,
Two of the most eminent and respected men of science in Italy
have applied to me in their difficulties of conscience and
requested me to write to you with the object of preventing, if
possible, a piece of cruel persecution with which men of learning
are threatened in Italy. I refer to a form of oath in which fidelity
to the Fascist system is to be promised. The burden of my
request is that you should please advise Signor Mussolini to
24
spare the flower of Italy's intellect this humiliation.
However much our political convictions may differ, I know that
we agree on one point: in the progressive achievements of the
European mind both of us see and love our highest good. Those
achievements are based on the freedom of thought and of
teaching, on the principle that the desire for truth must take
precedence of all other desires. It was this basis alone that
enabled our civilization to take its rise in Greece and to celebrate
its rebirth in Italy at the Renaissance. This supreme good has
been paid for by the martyr's blood of pure and great men, for
whose sake Italy is still loved and reverenced to-day.
Far be it from me to argue with you about what inroads on
human liberty may be justified by reasons of State. But the
pursuit of scientific truth, detached from the practical interests of
everyday life, ought to be treated as sacred by every
Government, and it is in the highest interests of all that honest
servants of truth should be left in peace. This is also undoubtedly
in the interests of the Italian State and its prestige in the eyes of
the world.
Hoping that my request will not fall on deaf ears, I am, etc.
A. E.
Interviewers
To be called to account publicly for everything one has said, even in jest, an
excess of high spirits, or momentary anger, fatal as it must be in the end, is yet
up to a point reasonable and natural. But to be called to account publicly for
what others have said in one's name, when one cannot defend oneself, is
indeed a sad predicament. "But who suffers such a dreadful fate?" you will
ask. Well, everyone who is of sufficient interest to the public to be pursued by
interviewers. You smile incredulously, but I have had plenty of direct
experience and will tell you about it.
Imagine the following situation. One morning a reporter comes to you and
asks you in a friendly way to tell him something about your friend N. At first
you no doubt feel something approaching indignation at such a proposal. But
you soon discover that there is no escape. If you refuse to say anything, the
man writes: "I asked one of N.'s supposedly best friends about him. But he
prudently avoided my questions. This in itself enables the reader to draw the
25
inevitable conclusions." There is, therefore, no escape, and you give the
following information: "Mr. N. is a cheerful, straightforward man, much liked
by all his friends. He can find a bright side to any situation. His enterprise and
industry know no bounds; his job takes up his entire energies. He is devoted
to his family and lays everything he possesses at his wife's feet. . . "
Now for the reporter's version : "Mr. N. takes nothing very seriously and has
a gift for making himself liked, particularly as he carefully cultivates a hearty
and ingratiating manner. He is so completely a slave to his job that he has no
time for the considerations of any non-personal subject or for any mental
activity outside it. He spoils his wife unbelievably and is utterly under her
thumb. . ."
A real reporter would make it much more spicy, but I expect this will be
enough for you and your friend N. He reads this, and some more like it, in the
paper next morning, and his rage against you knows no bounds, however
cheerful and benevolent his natural disposition may be. The injury done to him
gives you untold pain, especially as you are really fond of him.
What's your next step, my friend? If you know, tell me quickly, so that I may
adopt your method with all speed.
Thanks to America
Mr. Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen,
The splendid reception which you have accorded to me to-day puts me to the
blush in so far as it is meant for me personally, but it gives me all the more
pleasure in so far as it is meant for me as a representative of pure science. For
this gathering is an outward and visible sign that the world is no longer prone
to regard material power and wealth as the highest goods. It is gratifying that
men should feel an urge to proclaim this in an official way.
In the wonderful two months which I have been privileged to spend in your
midst in this fortunate land, I have had many opportunities of observing what a
high value men of action and of practical life attach to the efforts of science; a
good few of them have placed a considerable proportion of their fortunes and
their energies at the service of scientific enterprises and thereby contributed to
the prosperity and prestige of this country.
I cannot let this occasion pass without referring in a spirit of thankfulness to
the fact that American patronage of science is not limited by national frontiers.
26
Scientific enterprises all over the civilized world rejoice in the liberal support
of American institutions and individuals--a fact which is, I am sure, a source of
pride and gratification to all of you.
These tokens of an international way of thinking and feeling are particularly
welcome; for the world is to-day more than ever in need of international
thinking and feeling by its leading nations and personalities, if it is to progress
towards a better and more worthy future. I may be permitted to express the
hope that this internationalism of the American nation, which proceeds from a
high sense of responsibility, will very soon extend itself to the sphere of
politics. For without the active co-operation of the great country of the United
States in the business of regulating international relations, all efforts directed
towards this important end are bound to remain more or less ineffectual.
I thank you most heartily for this magnificent reception and, in particular, the
men of learning in this country for the cordial and friendly welcome I have
received from them. I shall always look back on these two months with
pleasure and gratitude.
The University Course at Davos
Senalores boni viri, senatus autem bestia. So a friend of mine, a Swiss
professor, once wrote in his irritable way to a university faculty which had
annoyed him. Communities tend to be less guided than individuals by
conscience and a sense of responsibility. What a fruitful source of suffering to
mankind this fact is! It is the cause of wars and every kind of oppression,
which fill the earth with pain, sighs, and bitterness.
And yet nothing truly valuable can be achieved except by the unselfish
co-operation of many individuals. Hence the man of good will is never happier
than when some communal enterprise is afoot and is launched at the cost of
heavy sacrifices, with the single object of promoting life and culture.
Such pure joy was mine when I heard about the university courses at Davos.
A work of rescue is being carried out there, with intelligence and a wise
moderation, which is based on a grave need, though it may not be a need that
is immediately obvious to everyone. Many a young man goes to this valley
with his hopes fixed on the healing power of its sunny mountains and regains
his bodily health. But thus withdrawn for long periods from the will-hardening
discipline of normal work and a prey to morbid reflection on his physical
condition, he easily loses the power of mental effort and the sense of being
able to hold his own in the struggle for existence. He becomes a sort of
hot-house plant and, when his body is cured, often finds it difficult to get back
27
to normal life. Interruption of intellectual training in the formative period of
youth is very apt to leave a gap which can hardly be filled later.
Yet, as a general rule, intellectual work in moderation, so far from retarding
cure, indirectly helps it forward, just as moderate physical work does. It is in
this knowledge that the university courses are being instituted, with the object
not merely of preparing these young people for a profession but of stimulating
them to intellectual activity as such. They are to provide work, training, and
hygiene in the sphere of the mind.
Let us not forget that this enterprise is admirably calculated to establish such
relations between members of different nations as are favourable to the
growth of a common European feeling. The effects of the new institution in this
direction are likely to be all the more advantageous from the fact that the
circumstances of its birth rule out every sort of political purpose. The best
way to serve the cause of internationalism is by co-operating in some
life-giving work.
>From all these points of view I rejoice that the energy and intelligence of the
founders of the university courses at Davos have already attained such a
measure of success that the enterprise has outgrown the troubles of infancy.
May it prosper, enriching the inner lives of numbers of admirable human
beings and rescuing many from the poverty of sanatorium life!
Congratulations to a Critic
To see with one's own eyes, to feel and judge without succumbing to the
suggestive power of the fashion of the day, to be able to express what one
has seen and felt in a snappy sentence or even in a cunningly wrought
word--is that not glorious? Is it not a proper subject for congratulation?
Greeting to G. Bernard Shaw
There are few enough people with sufficient independence to see the
weaknesses and follies of their contemporaries and remain themselves
untouched by them. And these isolated few usually soon lose their zeal for
putting things to rights when they have come face to face with human
obduracy. Only to a tiny minority is it given to fascinate their generation by
subtle humour and grace and to hold the mirror up to it by the impersonal
agency of art. To-day I salute with sincere emotion the supreme master of this
method, who has delighted--and educated--us all.
28
Some Notes on my American Impressions
I must redeem my promise to say something about my impressions of this
country. That is not altogether easy for me. For it is not easy to take up the
attitude of an impartial observer when one is received with such kindness and
undeserved respect as I have been in America. First of all let me say
something on this head.
The cult of individual personalities is always, in my view, unjustified. To be
sure, nature distributes her gifts variously among her children. But there are
plenty of the well-endowed ones too, thank God, and I am firmly convinced
that most of them live quiet, unregarded lives. It strikes me as unfair, and even
in bad taste, to select a few of them fur boundless admiration, attributing
superhuman powers of mind and character to them. This has been my fate,
and the contrast between the popular estimate of my powers and
achievements and the reality is simply grotesque. The consciousness of this
extraordinary state of affairs would be unbearable but for one great consoling
thought: it is a welcome symptom in an age which is commonly denounced as
materialistic, that it makes heroes of men whose ambitions lie wholly in the
intellectual and moral sphere. This proves that knowledge and justice are
ranked above wealth and power by a large section of the human race. My
experience teaches me that this idealistic outlook is particularly prevalent in
America, which is usually decried as a particularly materialistic country. After
this digression I come to my proper theme, in the hope that no more weight
will be attached to my modest remarks than they deserve.
What first strikes the visitor with amazement is the superiority of this country
in matters of technics and organization. Objects of everyday use are more
solid than in Europe, houses infinitely more convenient in arrangement.
Everything is designed to save human labour. Labour is expensive, because
the country is sparsely inhabited in comparison with its natural resources. The
high price of labour was the stimulus which evoked the marvellous
development of technical devices and methods of work. The opposite
extreme is illustrated by over-populated China or India, where the low price
of labour has stood in the way of the development of machinery. Europe is
half-way between the two. Once the machine is sufficiently highly developed it
becomes cheaper in the end than the cheapest labour. Let the Fascists in
Europe, who desire on narrow-minded political grounds to see their own
particular countries more densely populated, take heed of this. The anxious
care with which the United States keep out foreign goods by means of
prohibitive tariffs certainly contrasts oddly with this notion.…But an
29
innocent visitor must not be expected to rack his brains too much, and, when
all is said and done, it is not absolutely certain that every question admits of a
rational answer.
The second thing that strikes a visitor is the joyous, positive attitude to life.
The smile on the faces of the people in photographs is symbolical of one of
the American's greatest assets. He is friendly, confident, optimistic,
and--without envy. The European finds intercourse with Americans easy and
agreeable.
Compared with the American, the European is more critical, more
self-conscious, less goodhearted and helpful, more isolated, more fastidious in
his amusements and his reading, generally more or less of a pessimist.
Great importance attaches to the material comforts of life, and peace,
freedom from care, security are all sacrificed to them. The American lives for
ambition, the future, more than the European. Life for him is always becoming,
never being. In this respect he is even further removed from the Russian and
the Asiatic than the European is. But there is another respect in which he
resembles the Asiatic more than the European does: he is lest of an
individualist than the European--that is, from the psychological, not the
economic, point of view.
More emphasis is laid on the "we" than the "I." As a natural corollary of this,
custom and convention are very powerful, and there is much more uniformity
both in outlook on life and in moral and æsthetic ideas among Americans than
among Europeans. This fact is chiefly responsible for America's economic
superiority over Europe. Co-operation and the division of labour are carried
through more easily and with less friction than in Europe, whether in the
factory or the university or in private good works. This social sense may be
partly due to the English tradition.
In apparent contradiction to this stands the fact that the activities of the State
are comparatively restricted as compared with Europe. The European is
surprised to find the telegraph, the telephone, the railways, and the schools
predominantly in private hands. The more social attitude of the individual,
which I mentioned just now, makes this possible here. Another consequence
of this attitude is that the extremely unequal distribution of property leads to
no intolerable hardships. The social conscience of the rich man is much more
highly developed than in Europe. He considers himself obliged as a matter of
course to place a large portion of his wealth, and often of his own energies
too, at the disposal of the community, and public opinion, that all-powerful
force, imperiously demands it of him. Hence the most important cultural
30
functions can be left to private enterprise, and the part played by the State in
this country is, comparatively, a very restricted one.
The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by
the Prohibition laws. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the
government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be
enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this
country is closely connected with this.
There is also another way in which Prohibition, in my opinion, has led to the
enfeeblement of the State. The public-house is a place which gives people a
chance to exchange views and ideas on public affairs. As far as I can see,
people here have no chance of doing this, the result being that the Press,
which is mostly controlled by definite interests, has an excessive influence over
public opinion.
The over-estimation of money is still greater in this country than in Europe, but
appears to me to be on the decrease. It is at last beginning to be realized that
great wealth is not necessary for a happy and satisfactory life.
As regards artistic matters, I have been genuinely impressed by the good taste
displayed in the modern buildings and in articles of common use; on the other
hand, the visual arts and music have little place in the life of the nation as
compared with Europe.
I have a warm admiration for the achievements of American institutes of
scientific research. We are unjust in attempting to ascribe the increasing
superiority of American research-work exclusively to superior wealth; zeal,
patience, a spirit of comradeship, and a talent for co-operation play an
important part in its successes. One more observation to finish up with. The
United States is the most powerful technically advanced country in the world
to-day. Its influence on the shaping of international relations is absolutely
incalculable. But America is a large country and its people have so far not
shown much interest in great international problems, among which the
problem of disarmament occupies first place today. This must be changed, if
only in the essential interests of the Americans. The last war has shown that
there are no longer any barriers between the continents and that the destinies
of all countries are closely interwoven. The people of this country must realize
that they have a great responsibility in the sphere of international politics. The
part of passive spectator is unworthy of this country and is bound in the end
to lead to disaster all round.
31
Reply to the Women of America
An American Women's League felt called upon to protest against
Einstein's visit to their country. They received the following answer.
Never yet have I experienced from the fair sex such energetic rejection of all
advances; or, if I have, never from so many at once.
But are they not quite right, these watchful citizenesses? Why should one open
one's doors to a person who devours hard-boiled capitalists with as much
appetite and gusto as the Cretan Minotaur in days gone by devoured luscious
Greek maidens, and on top of that is low-down enough to reject every sort of
war, except the unavoidable war with one's own wife? Therefore give heed to
your clever and patriotic women-folk and remember that the Capitol of
mighty Rome was once saved by the cackling of its faithful geese.
II
Politics and Pacifism
Peace
The importance of securing international peace was recognized by the really
great men of former generations. But the technical advances of our times have
turned this ethical postulate into a matter of life and death for civilized mankind
to-day, and made the taking of an active part in the solution of the problem of
peace a moral duty which no conscientious man can shirk.
One has to realize that the powerful industrial groups concerned in the
manufacture of arms are doing their best in all countries to prevent the
peaceful settlement of international disputes, and that rulers can achieve this
great end only if they are sure of the vigorous support of the majority of their
peoples. In these days of democratic government the fate of the nations hangs
on themselves; each individual must always bear that in mind.
The Pacifist Problem
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very glad of this opportunity of saying a few words to you about the
32
problem of pacificism. The course of events in the last few years has once
more shown us how little we are justified in leaving the struggle against
armaments and against the war spirit to the Governments. On the other hand,
the formation of large organizations with a large membership can of itself bring
us very little nearer to our goal. In my opinion, the best method in this case is
the violent one of conscientious objection, with the aid of organizations for
giving moral and material support to the courageous conscientious objectors
in each country. In this way we may succeed in making the problem of
pacificism an acute one, a real struggle which attracts forceful natures. It is an
illegal struggle, but a struggle for people's real rights against their governments
in so far as the latter demand criminal acts of the citizen.
Many who think themselves good pacifists will jib at this out-and-out
pacifism, on patriotic grounds. Such people are not to be relied on in the hour
of crisis, as the World War amply proved.
I am most grateful to you for according me an opportunity to give you my
views in person.
Address to the Students' Disarmament Meeting
Preceding generations have presented us, in a highly developed science and
mechanical knowledge, with a most valuable gift which carries with it
possibilities of making our life free and beautiful such as no previous
generation has enjoyed. But this gift also brings with it dangers to our
existence as great as any that have ever threatened it.
The destiny of civilized humanity depends more than ever on the moral forces
it is capable of generating. Hence the task that confronts our age is certainly
no easier than the tasks our immediate predecessors successfully performed.
The foodstuffs and other goods which the world needs can be produced in far
fewer hours of work than formerly. But this has made the problem of the
division of labour and the distribution of the goods produced far more difficult.
We all feel that the free play of economic forces, the unregulated and
unrestrained pursuit of wealth and power by the individual, no longer leads
automatically to a tolerable solution of these problems. Production, labour,
and distribution need to be organized on a definite plan, in order to prevent
valuable productive energies from being thrown away and sections of the
population from becoming impoverished and relapsing into savagery. If
unrestricted sacro egoismo leads to disastrous consequences in economic
life, it is a still worse guide in international relations. The development of
33
mechanical methods of warfare is such that human life will become intolerable
if people do not before long discover a way of preventing war. The
importance of this object is only equalled by the inadequacy of the attempts
hitherto made to attain it.
People seek to minimize the danger by limitation of armaments and restrictive
rules for the conduct of war. But war is not like a parlour-game in which the
players loyally stick to the rules. Where life and death are at stake, rules and
obligations go by the board. Only the absolute repudiation of all war is of any
use here. The creation of an international court of arbitration is not enough.
There must be treaties guaranteeing that the decisions of this court shall be
made effective by all the nations acting in concert. Without such a guarantee
the nations will never have the courage to disarm seriously.
Suppose, for example, that the American, English, German, and French
Governments insisted on the Japanese Government's putting an immediate
stop to their warlike operations in China, under pain of a complete economic
boycott. Do you suppose that any Japanese Government would be found
ready to take the responsibility of plunging its country into such a perilous
adventure? Then why is it not done? Why must every individual and every
nation tremble for their existence? Because each seeks his own wretched
momentary advantage and refuses to subordinate it to the welfare and
prosperity of the community.
That is why I began by telling you that the fate of the human race was more
than ever dependent on its moral strength to-day. The way to a joyful and
happy state is through renunciation and self-limitation everywhere.
Where can the strength for such a process come from? Only from those who
have had the chance in their early years to fortify their minds and broaden
their outlook through study. Thus we of the older generation look to you and
hope that you will strive with all your might to achieve what was denied to us.
To Sigmund Freud
Dear Professor Freud,
It is admirable the way the longing to perceive the truth has
overcome every other desire in you. You have shown with
irresistible clearness how inseparably the combative and
destructive instincts are bound up with the amative and vital ones
in the human psyche. At the same time a deep yearning for that
great consummation, the internal and external liberation of
34
mankind from war, shines out from the ruthless logic of your
expositions. This has been the declared aim of all those who
have been honoured as moral and spiritual leaders beyond the
limits of their own time and country without exception, from
Jesus Christ to Goethe and Kant. Is it not significant that such
men have been universally accepted as leaders, in spite of the
fact that their efforts to mould the course of human affairs were
attended with but small success?
I am convinced that the great men--those whose achievements,
even though in a restricted sphere, set them above their
fellows--are animated to an overwhelming extent by the same
ideals. But they have little influence on the course of political
events. It almost looks as if this domain, on which the fate of
nations depends, had inevitably to be given over to violence and
irresponsibility.
Political leaders or governments owe their position partly to
force and partly to popular election. They cannot be regarded as
representative of the best elements, morally and intellectually, in
their respective nations. The intellectual èlite have no direct
influence on the history of nations in these days; their lack of
cohesion prevents them from taking a direct part in the solution
of contemporary problems. Don't you think that a change might
be brought about in this respect by a free association of people
whose work and achievements up to date constitute a guarantee
of their ability and purity of aim? This international association,
whose members would need to keep in touch with each other by
a constant interchange of opinions, might, by defining its attitude
in the Press--responsibility always resting with the signatories on
any given occasion--acquire a considerable and salutary moral
influence over the settlement of political questions. Such an
association would, of course, be a prey to all the ills which so
often lead to degeneration in learned societies, dangers which
are inseparably bound up with the imperfection of human nature.
But should not an effort in this direction be risked in spite of this?
I look upon the attempt as nothing less than an imperative duty.
If an intellectual association of standing, such as I have
described, could be formed, it would no doubt have to try to
mobilize the religious organizations for the fight against war. It
would give countenance to many whose good intentions are
paralysed to-day by a melancholy resignation. Finally, I believe
35
that an association formed of persons such as I have described,
each highly esteemed in his own line, would be just the thing to
give valuable moral support to those elements in the League of
Nations which are really working for the great object for which
that institution exists.
I had rather put these proposals to you than to anyone else in the
world, because you are least of all men the dupe of your desires
and because your critical judgment is supported by a most
earnest sense of responsibility.
Compulsory Service
From a letter
Instead of permission being given to Germany to introduce compulsory
service it ought to be taken away from everybody else: in future none but
mercenary armies should be permitted, the size and equipment of which
should be discussed at Geneva. This would be better for France than to have
to permit compulsory service in Germany. The fatal psychological effect of the
military education of the people and the violation of the individual's rights
which it involves would thus be avoided.
Moreover, it would be much easier for two countries which had agreed to
compulsory arbitration for the settlement of all disputes arising out of their
mutual relations to combine their military establishments of mercenaries into a
single organization with a mixed staff. This would mean a financial relief and
increased security for both of them. Such a process of amalgamation might
extend to larger and larger combinations, and finally lead to an "international
police," which would be bound gradually to degenerate as international
security increased.
Will you discuss this proposal with our friends by way of setting the ball
rolling? Of course I do not in the least insist on this particular proposal. But I
do think it essential that we should come forward with a positive programme;
a merely negative policy is unlikely to produce any practical results.
Germany and France
Mutual trust and co-operation between France and Germany can come about
only if the French demand for security against military attack is satisfied. But
should France frame demands in accordance with this, such a step would
36
certainly be taken very ill in Germany.
A procedure something like the following seems, however, to be possible. Let
the German Government of its own free will propose to the French that they
should jointly make representations to the League of Nations that it should
suggest to all member States to bind themselves to the following:--
(1) To submit to every decision of the international court of arbitration.
(2) To proceed with all its economic and military force, in concert with the
other members of the League, against any State which breaks the peace or
resists an international decision made in the interests of world peace.
Arbitration
Systematic disarmament within a short period. This is possible only in
combination with the guarantee of all for the security of each separate nation,
based on a permanent court of arbitration independent of governments.
Unconditional obligation of all countries not merely to accept the decisions of
the court of arbitration but also to give effect to them.
Separate courts of arbitration for Europe with Africa, America, and Asia
(Australia to be apportioned to one of these). A joint court of arbitration for
questions involving issues that cannot be settled within the limits of any one of
these three regions.
The International of Science
At a sitting of the Academy during the War, at the time when national and
political infatuation had reached its height, Emil Fischer spoke the following
emphatic words: "It's no use, Gentlemen, science is and remains international."
The really great scientists have always known this and felt it passionately, even
though in times of political confusion they may have remained isolated among
their colleagues of inferior calibre. In every camp during the War this mass of
voters betrayed their sacred trust. The international society of the academies
was broken up. Congresses were and still are held from which colleagues
from ex-enemy countries are excluded. Political considerations, advanced
with much solemnity, prevent the triumph of purely objective ways of thinking
without which our great aims must necessarily be frustrated.
What can right-minded people, people who are proof against the emotional
temptations of the moment, do to repair the damage? With the majority of
37
intellectual workers still so excited, truly international congresses on the grand
scale cannot yet be held. The psychological obstacles to the restoration of the
international associations of scientific workers are still too formidable to be
overcome by the minority whose ideas and feelings are of a more
comprehensive kind. These last can aid in the great work of restoring the
international societies to health by keeping in close touch with like-minded
people all over the world and resolutely championing the international cause in
their own spheres. Success on a large scale will take time, but it will
undoubtedly come. I cannot let this opportunity pass without paying a tribute
to the way in which the desire to preserve the confraternity of the intellect has
remained alive through all these difficult years in the breasts of a large number
of our English colleagues especially.
The disposition of the individual is everywhere better than the official
pronouncements. Right-minded people should bear this in mind and not allow
themselves to be misled and get angry: senatores boni viri, senatus autem
bestia.
If I am full of confident hope concerning the progress of international
organization in general, that feeling is based not so much on my confidence in
the intelligence and high-mindedness of my fellows, but rather on the
irresistible pressure of economic developments. And since these depend
largely on the work even of reactionary scientists, they too will help to create
the international organization against their wills.
The Institute for Intellectual Co-operation
During this year the leading politicians of Europe have for the first time drawn
the logical conclusion from the truth that our portion of the globe can only
regain its prosperity if the underground struggle between the traditional
political units ceases. The political organization of Europe must be
strengthened, and a gradual attempt made to abolish tariff barriers. This great
end cannot be achieved by treaties alone. People's minds must, above all, be
prepared for it. We must try gradually to awaken in them a sense of solidarity
which does not, as hitherto, stop at frontiers. It is with this in mind that the
League of Nations has created the Commission de coopération
intellectuelle. This Commission is to be an absolutely international and
entirely nonpolitical authority, whose business it is to put the intellectuals of all
the nations, who were isolated by the war, into touch with each other. It is a
difficult task; for it has, alas, to be admitted that--at least in the countries with
which I am most closely acquainted--the artists and men of learning are
governed by narrowly nationalist feelings to a far greater extent than the men
of affairs.
38
Hitherto this Commission has met twice a year. To make its efforts more
effective, the French Government has decided to create and maintain a
permanent Institute for intellectual co-operation, which is just now to be
opened. It is a generous act on the part of the French nation and deserves the
thanks of all.
It is an easy and grateful task to rejoice and praise and say nothing about the
things one regrets or disapproves of. But honesty alone can help our work
forward, so I will not shrink from combining criticism with this greeting to the
new-born child.
I have daily occasion for observing that the greatest obstacle which the work
of our Commission has to encounter is the lack of confidence in its political
impartiality. Everything must be done to strengthen that confidence and
everything avoided that might harm it.
When, therefore, the French Government sets up and maintains an Institute
out of public funds in Paris as a permanent organ of the Commission, with a
Frenchman as its Director, the outside observer can hardly avoid the
impression that French influence predominates in the Commission. This
impression is further strengthened by the fact that so far a Frenchman has also
been chairman of the Commission itself. Although the individuals in question
are men of the highest reputation, liked and respected everywhere,
nevertheless the impression remains.
Dixi et salvavi animam naeam. I hope with all my heart that the new
Institute, by constant interaction with the Commission, will succeed in
promoting their common ends and winning the confidence and recognition of
intellectual workers all over the world.
A Farewell
A letter to the German Secretary of the League of Nations
Dear Herr Dufour-Feronce,
Your kind letter must not go unanswered, otherwise you may get
a mistaken notion of my attitude. The grounds for my resolve to
go to Geneva no more are as follows: Experience has,
unhappily, taught me that the Commission, taken as a whole,
stands for no serious determination to make real progress with
39
the task of improving international relations. It looks to me far
more like an embodiment of the principle ut aliquid fieri
videatur. The Commission seems to me even worse in this
respect than the League taken as a whole.
It is precisely because I desire to work with all my might for the
establishment of an international arbitrating and regulative
authority superior to the State, and because I have this object
so very much at heart, that I feel compelled to leave the
Commission.
The Commission has given its blessing to the oppression of the
cultural minorities in all countries by causing a National
Commission to be set up in each of them, which is to form the
only channel of communication between the intellectuals of a
country and the Commission. It has thereby deliberately
abandoned its function of giving moral support to the national
minorities in their struggle against cultural oppression.
Further, the attitude of the Commission in the matter of
combating the chauvinistic and militaristic tendencies of
education in the various countries has been so lukewarm that no
serious efforts in this fundamentally important sphere can be
hoped for from it.
The Commission has invariably failed to give moral support to
those individuals and associations who have thrown themselves
without reserve into the business of working for an international
order and against the military system.
The Commission has never made any attempt to resist the
appointment of members whom it knew to stand for tendencies
the very reverse of those it is bound in duty to foster.
I will not worry you with any further arguments, since you will
understand my resolve yell enough from these few hints. It is not
my business to draw up an indictment, but merely to explain my
position. If I nourished any hope whatever I should act
differently--of that you may be sure.
The Question of Disarmament
The greatest obstacle to the success of the disarmament plan was the fact that
40
people in general left out of account the chief difficulties of the problem. Most
objects are gained by gradual steps: for example, the supersession of absolute
monarchy by democracy. Here, however, we are concerned with an
objective which cannot be reached step by step.
As long as the possibility of war remains, nations will insist on being as
perfectly prepared militarily as they can, in order to emerge triumphant from
the next war. It will also be impossible to avoid educating the youth in warlike
traditions and cultivating narrow national vanity joined to the glorification of
the warlike spirit, as long as people have to be prepared for occasions when
such a spirit will be needed in the citizens for the purpose of war. To arm is to
give one's voice and make one's preparations not for peace but for war.
Therefore people will not disarm step by step; they will disarm at one blow or
not at all.
The accomplishment of such a far-reaching change in the life of nations
presupposes a mighty moral effort, a deliberate departure from deeply
ingrained tradition. Anyone who is not prepared to make the fate of his
country in case of a dispute depend entirely on the decisions of an
international court of arbitration, and to enter into a treaty to this effect without
reserve, is not really resolved to avoid war. It is a case of all or nothing.
It is undeniable that previous attempts to ensure peace have failed through
aiming at inadequate compromises.
Disarmament and security are only to be had in combination. The one
guarantee of security is an undertaking by all nations to give effect to the
decisions of the international authority.
We stand, therefore, at the parting of the ways. Whether we find the way of
peace or continue along the old road of brute force, so unworthy of our
civilization, depends on ourselves. On the one side the freedom of the
individual and the security of society beckon to us, on the other slavery for the
individual and the annihilation of our civilization threaten us. Our fate will be
according to our deserts.
The Disarmament Conference of 1932
I
May I begin with an article of political faith? It runs as follows: The State is
made for man, not man for the State. And in this respect science resembles
the State. These are old sayings, coined by men for whom human personality
41
was the highest human good. I should shrink from repeating them, were it not
that they are for ever threatening to fall into oblivion, particularly in these days
of organization and mechanization. I regard it as the chief duty of the State to
protect the individual and give him the opportunity to develop into a creative
personality.
That is to say, the State should be our servant and not we its slaves. The State
transgresses this commandment when it compels us by force to engage in
military and war service, the more so since the object and the effect of this
slavish service is to kill people belonging to other countries or interfere with
their freedom of development. We are only to make such sacrifices to the
State as will promote the free development of individual human beings. To any
American all this may be a platitude, but not to any European. Hence we may
hope that the fight against war will find strong support among Americans.
And now for the Disarmament Conference. Ought one to laugh, weep, or
hope when one thinks of it? Imagine a city inhabited by fiery-tempered,
dishonest, and quarrelsome citizens. The constant danger to life there is felt as
a serious handicap which makes all healthy development impossible. The
magistrate desires to remedy this abominable state of affairs, although all his
counsellors and the rest of the citizens insist on continuing to carry a dagger in
their girdles. After years of preparation the magistrate determines to
compromise and raises the question, how long and how sharp the dagger is
allowed to be which anyone may carry in his belt when he goes out. As long
as the cunning citizens do not suppress knifing by legislation, the courts, and
the police, things go on in the old way, of course. A definition of the length
and sharpness of the permitted dagger will help only the strongest and most
turbulent and leave the weaker at their mercy. You will all understand the
meaning of this parable. It is true that we have a League of Nations and a
Court of Arbitration. But the League is not much more than a meeting-hall,
and the Court has no means of enforcing its decisions. These institutions
provide no security for any country in case of an attack on it. If you bear this
in mind, you will judge the attitude of the French, their refusal to disarm
without security, less harshly than it is usually judged at present.
Unless we can agree to limit the sovereignty of the individual State by all
binding ourselves to take joint action against any country which openly or
secretly resists a judgment of the Court of Arbitration, we shall never get out
of a state of universal anarchy and terror. No sleight of hand can reconcile the
unlimited sovereignty of the individual country with security against attack.
Will it need new disasters to induce the countries to undertake to enforce
every decision of the recognized international court? The progress of events
so far scarcely justifies us in hoping for anything better in the near future. But
42
everyone who cares for civilization and justice must exert all his strength to
convince his fellows of the necessity for laying all countries under an
international obligation of this kind.
It will be urged against this notion, not without a certain justification, that it
over-estimates the efficacy of machinery, and neglects the psychological, or
rather the moral, factor. Spiritual disarmament, people insist, must precede
material disarmament. They say further, and truly, that the greatest obstacle to
international order is that monstrously exaggerated spirit of nationalism which
also goes by the fair-sounding but misused name of patriotism. During the last
century and a half this idol has acquired an uncanny and exceedingly
pernicious power everywhere.
To estimate this objection at its proper worth, one must realize that a
reciprocal relation exists between external machinery and internal states of
mind. Not only does the machinery depend on traditional modes of feeling
and owe its origin and its survival to them, but the existing machinery in its turn
exercises a powerful influence on national modes of feeling.
The present deplorably high development of nationalism everywhere is, in my
opinion, intimately connected with the institution of compulsory military service
or, to call it by its less offensive name, national armies. A country which
demands military service of its inhabitants is compelled to cultivate a
nationalistic spirit in them, which provides the psychological foundation of
military efficiency. Along with this religion it has to hold up its instrument, brute
force, to the admiration of the youth in its schools.
The introduction of compulsory service is therefore, to my mind, the prime
cause of the moral collapse of the white race, which seriously threatens not
merely the survival of our civilization but our very existence. This curse, along
with great social blessings, started with the French Revolution, and before
long dragged all the other nations in its train.
Therefore those who desire to encourage the growth of an international spirit
and to combat chauvinism must take their stand against compulsory service. Is
the severe persecution to which conscientious objectors to military service are
subjected to-day a whit less disgraceful to the community than those to which
the martyrs of religion were exposed in former centuries? Can you, as the
Kellogg Pact does, condemn war and at the same time leave the individual to
the tender mercies of the war machine in each country?
If, in view of the Disarmament Conference, we are not to restrict ourselves to
the technical problems of organization involved but also to tackle the
43
psychological question more directly from educational motives, we must try
on international lines to invent some legal way by which the individual can
refuse to serve in the army. Such a regulation would undoubtedly produce a
great moral effect.
This is my position in a nutshell: Mere agreements to limit armaments furnish
no sort of security. Compulsory arbitration must be supported by an executive
force, guaranteed by all the participating countries, which is ready to proceed
against the disturber of the peace with economic and military sanctions.
Compulsory service, as the bulwark of unhealthy nationalism, must be
combated; most important of all, conscientious objectors must be protected
on an international basis.
Finally, I would draw your attention to a book, War again To-morrow, by
Ludwig Bauer, which discusses the issues here involved in an acute and
unprejudiced manner and with great psychological insight.
II
The benefits that the inventive genius of man has conferred on us in the last
hundred years could make life happy and care-free if organization had been
able to keep pace with technical progress. As it is, these hard-won
achievements in the hands of our generation are like a razor in the hands of a
child of three. The possession of marvellous means of production has brought
care and hunger instead of freedom.
The results of technical progress are most baleful where they furnish means for
the destruction of human life and the hard-won fruits of toil, as we of the older
generation experienced to our horror in the Great War. More dreadful even
than the destruction, in my opinion, is the humiliating slavery into which war
plunges the individual. Is it not a terrible thing to be forced by the community
to do things which every individual regards as abominable crimes? Only a few
had the moral greatness to resist; them I regard as the real heroes of the Great
War.
There is one ray of hope. I believe that the responsible leaders of the nations
do, in the main, honestly desire to abolish war. The resistance to this essential
step forward comes from those unfortunate national traditions which are
handed on like a hereditary disease from generation to generation through the
workings of the educational system. The principal vehicle of this tradition is
military training and its glorification, and, equally, that portion of the Press
which is controlled by heavy industry and the soldiers. Without disarmament
44
there can be no lasting peace. Conversely, the continuation of military
preparations on the present scale will inevitably lead to new catastrophes.
That is why the Disarmament Conference of 1932 will decide the fate of this
generation and the next. When one thinks how pitiable, taken as a whole,
have been the results of former conferences, it becomes clear that it is the
duty of all intelligent and responsible people to exert their full powers to
remind public opinion again and again of the importance of the 1932
Conference. Only if the statesmen have behind them the will to peace of a
decisive majority in their own countries can they attain their great end, and for
the formation of this public opinion each one of us is responsible in every
word and deed.
The doom of the Conference would be sealed if the delegates came to it with
ready-made instructions, the carrying out of which would soon become a
matter of prestige. This seems to be generally realized. For meetings between
the statesmen of two nations at a time, which have become very frequent of
late, have been used to prepare the ground for the Conference by
conversations about the disarmament problem. This seems to me a very
happy device, for two men or groups of men can usually discuss things
together most reasonably, honestly, and dispassionately when there is no third
person present in front of whom they think they must be careful what they say.
Only if exhaustive preparations of this kind are made for the Conference, if
surprises are thereby ruled out, and an atmosphere of confidence is created
by genuine good will, can we hope for a happy issue.
In these great matters success is not a matter of cleverness, still less of
cunning, but of honesty and confidence. The moral element cannot be
displaced by reason, thank heaven ! It is not the individual spectator's duty
merely to wait and criticize. He must serve the cause by all means in his
power. The fate of the world will be such as the world deserves.
America and the Disarmasnent Conference
The Americans of to-day are filled with the cares arising out of economic
conditions in their own country. The efforts of their responsible leaders are
directed primarily to remedying the serious unemployment at home. The sense
of being involved in the destiny of the rest of the world, and in particular of the
mother country of Europe, is even less strong than in normal times.
But the free play of economic forces will not by itself automatically overcome
these difficulties. Regulative measures by the community are needed to bring
about a sound distribution of labour and consumption-goods among mankind;
45
without them even the people of the richest country suffocate. The fact is that
since the amount of work needed to supply everybody's needs has been
reduced through the improvement of technical methods, the free play of
economic forces no longer produces a state of affairs in which all the available
labour can find employment. Deliberate regulation and organization are
becoming necessary to make the results of technical progress beneficial to all.
If the economic situation cannot be cleared up without systematic regulation,
how much more necessary is such regulation for dealing with the problems of
international politics! Few people still cling to the notion that acts of violence
in the shape of wars are either advantageous or worthy of humanity as a
method of solving international problems. But they are not logical enough to
make vigorous efforts on behalf of the measures which might prevent war, that
savage and unworthy relic of the age of barbarism. It requires some power of
reflection to see the issue clearly and a certain courage to serve this great
cause resolutely and effectively.
Anybody who really wants to abolish war must resolutely declare himself in
favour of his own country's resigning a portion of its sovereignty in favour of
international institutions: he must be ready to make his own country amenable,
in case of a dispute, to the award of an international court. He must in the
most uncompromising fashion support disarmament all round, which is actually
envisaged in the unfortunate Treaty of Versailles; unless military and
aggressively patriotic education is abolished, we can hope for no progress.
No event of the last few years reflects such disgrace on the leading civilized
countries of the world as the failure of all disarmament conferences so far; for
this failure is due not only to the intrigues of ambitious and unscrupulous
politicians, but also to the indifference and slackness of the public in all
countries. Unless this is changed we shall destroy all the really valuable
achievements of our predecessors.
I believe that the American nation is only imperfectly aware of the
responsibility which rests with it in this matter. People in America no doubt
think as follows: "Let Europe go to the dogs, if it is destroyed by the
quarrelsomeness and wickedness of its inhabitants. The good seed of our
Wilson has produced a mighty poor crop in the stony ground of Europe. We
are strong and safe and in no hurry to mix ourselves up in other people's
affairs."
Such an attitude is at once base and shortsighted. America is partly to blame
for the difficulties of Europe. By ruthlessly pressing her claims she is hastening
the economic and therewith the moral collapse of Europe; she has helped to
46
Balkanize Europe, and therefore shares the responsibility for the breakdown
of political morality and the growth of that spirit of revenge which feeds on
despair. This spirit will not stop short of the gates of America--I had almost
said, has not stopped short. Look around, and look forward.
The truth can be briefly stated: The Disarmament Conference comes as a final
chance, to you no less than to us, of preserving the best that civilized humanity
has produced. And it is on you, as the strongest and comparatively soundest
among us, that the eyes and hopes of all are focused.
Active Pacifism
I consider myself lucky in witnessing the great peace demonstration organized
by the Flemish people. To all concerned in it I feel impelled to call out in the
name of men of good will with a care for the future: "In this hour of opened
eyes and awakening conscience we feel ourselves united with you by the
deepest ties."
We must not conceal from ourselves that an improvement in the present
depressing situation is impossible without a severe struggle; for the handful of
those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with
the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided. And those who have an interest
in keeping the machinery of war going are a very powerful body; they will
stop at nothing to make public opinion subservient to their murderous ends.
It looks as if the ruling statesmen of to-day were really trying to secure
permanent peace. But the ceaseless piling-up of armaments shows only too
clearly that they are unequal to coping with the hostile forces which are
preparing for war. In my opinion, deliverance can only come from the peoples
themselves. If they wish to avoid the degrading slavery of war-service, they
must declare with no uncertain voice for complete disarmament. As long as
armies exist, any serious quarrel will lead to war. A pacifism which does not
actually try to prevent the nations from arming is and must remain impotent.
May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so
that we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look
back on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers!
Letter to a Friend of Peace
It has come to my ears that in your greatheartedness you are quietly
accomplishing a splendid work, impelled by solicitude for humanity and its
fate. Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes and feel with
47
their own hearts. But it is their strength that will decide whether the human
race must relapse into that hopeless condition which a blind multitude appears
to-day to regard as the ideal.
O that the nations might see, before it is too late, how much of their
self-determination they have got to sacrifice in order to avoid the struggle of
all against all! The power of conscience and the international spirit has proved
itself inadequate. At present it is being so weak as to tolerate parleying with
the worst enemies of civilization. There is a kind of conciliation which is a
crime against humanity, and it passes for political wisdom.
We cannot despair of humanity, since we are ourselves human beings. And it
is a comfort that there still exist individuals like yourself, whom one knows to
be alive and undismayed.
Another ditto
Dear friend and spiritual brother,
To be quite frank, a declaration like the one before me in a
country which submits to conscription in peace-time seems to
me valueless. What you must fight for is liberation from universal
military service. Verily the French nation has had to pay heavily
for the victory of 1918; for that victory has been largely
responsible for holding it down in the most degrading of all forms
of slavery. Let your efforts in this struggle be unceasing. You
have a mighty ally in the German reactionaries and militarists. If
France clings to universal military service, it will be impossible in
the long run to prevent its introduction into Germany. For the
demand of the Germans for equal rights will succeed in the end;
and then there will be two German military slaves to every
French one, which would certainly not be in the interests of
France.
Only if we succeed in abolishing compulsory service altogether
will it be possible to educate the youth in the spirit of
reconciliation, joy in life, and love towards all living creatures.
I believe that a refusal on conscientious grounds to serve in the
army when called up, if carried out by 50,000 men at the same
moment, would be irresistible. The individual can accomplish
little here, nor can one wish to see the best among us devoted to
destruction through the machinery behind which stand the three
48
great powers of stupidity, fear, and greed.
A third ditto
Dear Sir,
The point with which you deal in your letter is one of prime
importance. The armament industry is, as you say, one of the
greatest dangers that beset mankind. It is the hidden evil power
behind the nationalism which is rampant everywhere.…
Possibly something might be gained by nationalization. But it is
extremely hard to determine exactly what industries should be
included. Should the aircraft industry? And how much of the
metal industry and the chemical industry?
As regards the munitions industry and the export of war material,
the League of Nations has busied itself for years with efforts to
get this horrible traffic controlled--with what little success, we all
know. Last year I asked a well-known American diplomat why
Japan was not forced by a commercial boycott to desist from
her policy of force. "Our commercial interests are too strong,"
was the answer. How can one help people who rest satisfied
with a statement like that?
You believe that a word from me would suffice to get something
done in this sphere? What an illusion! People flatter me as long
as I do not get in their way. But if I direct my efforts towards
objects which do not suit them, they immediately turn to abuse
and calumny in defence of their interests. And the onlookers
mostly keep out of the light, the cowards! Have you ever tested
the civil courage of your countrymen? The silently accepted
motto is "Leave it alone and don't speak of it." You may be sure
that I shall do everything in my power along the lines you
indicate, but nothing can be achieved as directly as you think.
Women and War
In my opinion, the patriotic women ought to be sent to the front in the next
war instead of the men. It would at least be a novelty in this dreary sphere of
infinite confusion, and besides--why should not such heroic feelings on the
part of the fair sex find a more picturesque outlet than in attacks on a
defenceless civilian?
49
Thoughts on the World Economic Crisis
If there is one thing that can give a layman in the sphere of economics the
courage to express an opinion on the nature of the alarming economic
difficulties of the present day, it is the hopeless confusion of opinions among
the experts. What I have to say is nothing new and does not pretend to be
anything more than the opinion of an independent and honest man who,
unburdened by class or national prejudices, desires nothing but the good of
humanity and the most harmonious possible scheme of human existence. If in
what follows I write as if I were clear about certain things and sure of the truth
of what I am saying, this is done merely for the sake of an easier mode of
expression; it does not proceed from unwarranted self-confidence or a belief
in the infallibility of my somewhat simple intellectual conception of problems
which are in reality uncommonly complex.
As I see it, this crisis differs in character from past crises in that it is based on
an entirely new set of conditions, due to rapid progress in methods of
production. Only a fraction of the available human labour in the world is
needed for the production of the total amount of consumption-goods
necessary to life. Under a completely free economic system this fact is bound
to lead to unemployment. For reasons which I do not propose to analyse
here, the majority of people are compelled to work for the minimum wage on
which life can be supported. If two factories produce the same sort of goods,
other things being equal, that one will be able to produce them more cheaply
which employs less workmen--i.e., makes the individual worker work as long
and as hard as human nature permits. From this it follows inevitably that, with
methods of production what they are to-day, only a portion of the available
labour can be used. While unreasonable demands are made on this portion,
the remainder is automatically excluded from the process of production. This
leads to a fall in sales and profits. Businesses go smash, which further
increases unemployment and diminishes confidence in industrial concerns and
therewith public participation in these mediating banks; finally the banks
become insolvent through the sudden withdrawal of deposits and the wheels
of industry therewith come to a complete standstill.
The crisis has also been attributed to other causes which we will now
consider.
(1) Over-production. We have to distinguish between two things here--real
over-production and apparent over-production. By real overproduction I
mean a production so great that it exceeds the demand. This m4y perhaps
apply to motor-cars and wheat in the United States at the present moment,
50
although even that is doubtful. By "over-production" people usually mean a
condition of things in which more of one particular article is produced than
can, in existing circumstances, be sold, in spite of a shortage of
consumption-goods among consumers. This condition of things I call apparent
over-production. In this case it is not the demand that is lacking but the
consumers' purchasing-power. Such apparent over-production is only another
word for a crisis, and therefore cannot serve as an explanation of the latter;
hence people who try to make over-production responsible for the crisis are
merely juggling with words.
(2) Reparations. The obligation to pay reparations lies heavy on the debtor
nations and their industries, compels them to go in for dumping, and so harms
the creditor nations too This is beyond dispute. But the appearance of the
crisis in the United States, in spite of the high tariff-wall protecting them,
proves that this cannot be the principal cause of the world crisis. The shortage
of gold in the debtor countries due to reparations can at most serve as an
argument for putting an end to these payments; it cannot be dragged in as an
explanation of the world crisis.
(3) Erection of near tariff-walls. Increase in the unproductive burden of
armaments. Political in security owing to latent danger of war. All these things
add considerably to the troubles of Europe, but do not materially affect
America. The appearance of the crisis in America shows that they cannot be
its principal causes.
(4) The dropping-out of the two Powers, China and Russia. This blow to
world trade also does not touch America very nearly, and therefore cannot be
a principal cause of the crisis.
(5) The economic rise of the lower classes since the War. This, supposing
it to be a reality, could only produce a scarcity of goods, not an excessive
supply.
I will not weary the reader by enumerating further contentions which do not
seem to me to get to the heart of the matter. Of one thing I feel certain: this
same technical progress which, in itself, might relieve mankind of a great part
of the labour necessary to its subsistence, is the main cause of our present
troubles. Hence there are those who would in all seriousness forbid the
introduction of technical improvements. This is obviously absurd. But how can
we find a more rational way out of our dilemma?
If we could somehow manage to prevent the purchasing-power of the
masses, measured in terms of goods, from sinking below a certain minimum,
51
stoppages in the industrial cycle such as we are experiencing to-day would be
rendered impossible.
The logically simplest but also most daring method of achieving this is a
completely planned economy, in which consumption-goods are produced and
distributed by the community. That, in essentials, is what is being attempted in
Russia to-day. Much will depend on what results this mighty experiment
produces. To hazard a prophecy here would be presumption. Can goods be
produced as economically under such a system as under one which leaves
more freedom to individual enterprise? Can this system maintain itself at all
without the terror that has so far accompanied it, which none of us
"westerners" would care to let himself in for? Does not such a rigid,
centralized system tend towards protection and hostility to advantageous
innovations? We must take care, however, not to allow these suspicions to
become prejudices which prevent us from forming an objective judgment.
My personal opinion is that those methods are preferable which respect
existing traditions and habits so far as that is in any way compatible with the
end in view. Nor do I believe that a sudden transference of the control of
industry to the hands of the public would be beneficial from the point of view
of production; private enterprise should be left its sphere of activity, in so far
as it has not already been eliminated by industry itself in the form of
cartelization.
There are, however, two respects in which this economic freedom ought to be
limited. In each branch of industry the number of working hours per week
ought so to be reduced by law that unemployment is systematically abolished.
At the same time minimum wages must be fixed in such a way that the
purchasing power of the workers keeps pace with production.
Further, in those industries which have become monopolistic in character
through organization on the part of the producers, prices must be controlled
by the State in order to keep the creation of new capital within reasonable
bounds and prevent the artificial strangling of production and consumption.
In this way it might perhaps be possible to establish a proper balance between
production and consumption without too great a limitation of free enterprise,
and at the same time to stop the intolerable tyranny of the owners of the
means of production (land, machinery) over the wage-earners, in the widest
sense of the term.
Culture and Prosperity
52
If one would estimate the damage done by the great political catastrophe to
the development of human civilization, one must remember that culture in its
higher forms is a delicate plant which depends on a complicated set of
conditions and is wont to flourish only in a few places at any given time. For it
to blossom there is needed, first of all, a certain degree of prosperity, which
enables a fraction of the population to work at things not directly necessary to
the maintenance of life; secondly, a moral tradition of respect for cultural
values and achievements, in virtue of which this class is provided with the
means of living by the other classes, those who provide the immediate
necessities of life.
During the past century Germany has been one of the countries in which both
conditions were fulfilled. The prosperity was, taken as a whole, modest but
sufficient; the tradition of respect for culture vigorous. On this basis the
German nation has brought forth fruits of culture which form an integral part of
the development of the modern world. The tradition, in the main, still stands;
the prosperity is gone. The industries of the country have been cut off almost
completely from the sources of raw materials on which the existence of the
industrial part of the population was based. The surplus necessary to support
the intellectual worker has suddenly ceased to exist. With it the tradition which
depends on it will inevitably collapse also, and a fruitful nursery of culture turn
to wilderness.
The human race, in so far as it sets a value on culture, has an interest in
preventing such impoverishment. It will give what help it can in the immediate
crisis and reawaken that higher community of feeling, now thrust into the
background by national egotism, for which human values have a validity
independent of politics and frontiers. It will then procure for every nation
conditions of work under which it can exist and under which it can bring forth
fruits of culture.
Production and Purchasing Power
I do not believe that the remedy for our present difficulties lies in a knowledge
of productive capacity and consumption, because this knowledge is likely, in
the main, to come too late. Moreover the trouble in Germany seems to me to
be not hypertrophy of the machinery of production but deficient purchasing
power in a large section of the population, which has been cast out of the
productive process through rationalization.
The gold standard has, in my opinion, the serious disadvantage that a shortage
in the supply of gold automatically leads to a contraction of credit and also of
53
the amount of currency in circulation, to which contraction prices and wages
cannot adjust themselves sufficiently quickly. The natural remedies for our
troubles are, in my opinion, as follows:--
(1) A statutory reduction of working hours, graduated for each department of
industry, in order to get rid of unemployment, combined with the fixing of
minimum wages for the purpose of adjusting the purchasing-power of the
masses to the amount of goods available.
(2) Control of the amount of money in circulation and of the volume of credit
in such a way as to keep the price-level steady, all special protection being
abolished.
(3) Statutory limitation of prices for such articles as have been practically
withdrawn from free competition by monopolies or the formation of cartels.
Production and Work
An answer to Cederström
Dear Herr Cederström,
Thank you for sending me your proposals, which interest me
very much. Having myself given so much thought to this subject I
feel that it is right that I should give you my perfectly frank
opinion on them.
The fundamental trouble seems to me to be the almost unlimited
freedom of the labour market combined with extraordinary
progress in the methods of production. To satisfy the needs of
the world to-day nothing like all the available labour is wanted.
The result is unemployment and excessive competition among
the workers, both of which reduce purchasing power and put
the whole economic system intolerably out of gear.
I know Liberal economists maintain that every economy in
labour is counterbalanced by an increase in demand. But, to
begin with, I don't believe it, and even if it were true, the
above-mentioned factors would always operate to force the
standard of living of a large portion of the human race doom to
an unnaturally low level.
I also share your conviction that steps absolutely must be taken
54
to make it possible and necessary for the younger people to take
part in the productive process. Further, that the older people
ought to be excluded from certain sorts of work (which I call
"unqualified" work), receiving instead a certain income, as having
by that time done enough work of a kind accepted by society as
productive.
I too am in favour of abolishing large cities, but not of settling
people of a particular type--e.g., old people--in particular
towns. Frankly, the idea strikes me as horrible. I am also of
opinion that fluctuations in the value of money must be avoided,
by substituting for the gold standard a standard based on certain
classes of goods selected according to the conditions of
consumption--as Keynes, if I am not mistaken, long ago
proposed. With the introduction of this system one might
consent to a certain amount of "inflation," as compared with the
present monetary situation, if one could believe that the State
would really make a rational use of the windfall thus accruing to
it.
The weaknesses of your plan lie, so it seems to me, in the sphere
of psychology, or rather, in your neglect of it. It is no accident
that capitalism has brought with it progress not merely in
production but also in knowledge. Egoism and competition are,
alas, stronger forces than public spirit and sense of duty. In
Russia, they say, it is impossible to get a decent piece of
bread.…Perhaps I am over-pessimistic concerning State
and other forms of communal enterprise, but I expect little good
from them. Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work. I have
seen and experienced too many dreadful warnings, even in
comparatively model Switzerland.
I am inclined to the view that the State can only be of real use to
industry as a limiting and regulative force. It must see to it that
competition among the workers is kept within healthy limits, that
all children are given a chance to develop soundly, and that
wages are high enough for the goods produced to be consumed.
But it can exert a decisive influence through its regulative function
if--and there again you are right--its measures are framed in an
objective spirit by independent experts.
I would like to write to you at greater length, but cannot find the
time.
55
Minorities
It seems to be a universal fact that minorities--especially when the individuals
composing them are distinguished by physical peculiarities--are treated by the
majorities among whom they live as an inferior order of beings. The tragedy of
such a fate lies not merely in the unfair treatment to which these minorities are
automatically subjected in social and economic matters, but also in the fact
that under the suggestive influence of the majority most of the victims
themselves succumb to the same prejudice and regard their brethren as
inferior beings. This second and greater part of the evil can be overcome by
closer combination and by deliberate education of the minority, whose
spiritual liberation can thus be accomplished.
The efforts of the American negroes in this direction are deserving of all
commendation and assistance.
Observations on the Present Situation in Europe
The distinguishing feature of the present political situation of the world, and in
particular of Europe, seems to me to be this, that political. development has
failed, both materially and intellectually, to keep pace with economic
necessity, which has changed its character in a comparatively short time. The
interests of each country must be subordinated to the interests of the wider
community. The struggle for this new orientation of political thought and
feeling is a severe one, because it has the tradition of centuries against it. But
the survival of Europe depends on its successful issue. It is my firm conviction
that once the psychological impediments are overcome the solution of the real
problems will not be such a terribly difficult matter. In order to create the right
atmosphere, the most essential thing is personal co-operation between men of
like mind. May our united efforts succeed in building a bridge of mutual trust
between the nations!
The Heirs of the Ages
Previous generations were able to look upon intellectual and cultural progress
as simply the inherited fruits of their forebears' labours, which made life easier
and more beautiful for them. But the calamities of our times show us that this
was a fatal illusion.
We see now that the greatest efforts are needed if this legacy of humanity's is
to prove a blessing and not a curse. For whereas formerly it was enough for a
56
man to have freed himself to some extent from personal egotism to make him
a valuable member of society, to-day he must also be required to overcome
national and class egotism. Only if he reaches those heights can he contribute
towards improving the lot of humanity.
As regards this most important need of the age the inhabitants of a small State
are better placed than those of a great Power, since the latter are exposed,
both in politics and economics, to the temptation to gain their ends by brute
force. The agreement between Holland and Belgium, which is the only bright
spot in European affairs during the last few years, encourages one to hope
that the small nations will play a leading part in the attempt to liberate the
world from the degrading yoke of militarism through the renunciation of the
individual country's unlimited right of self-determination.
III
Germany 1933
Manifesto
As long as I have any choice, I will only stay in a country where political
liberty, toleration, and equality of all citizens before the law are the rule.
Political liberty implies liberty to express one's political views orally and in
writing, toleration, respect for any and every individual opinion.
These conditions do not obtain in Germany at the present time. Those who
have done most for the cause of international understanding, among them
some of the leading artists, are being persecuted there.
Any social organism can become psychically distempered just as any
individual can, especially in times of difficulty. Nations usually survive these
distempers. I hope that healthy conditions will soon supervene in Germany,
and that in future her great men like Kant and Goethe will not merely be
commemorated from time to time, but that the principles which they inculcated
will also prevail in public life and in the general consciousness.
March, 1933.
Correspondence with the Prussian Academy of Sciences
The following correspondence is here published for the first time in its
authentic and complete form. The version published in German
newspapers was for the most part incorrect, important sentences being
57
omitted.
The Academy's declaration of April I, 1933, against Einstein.
The Prussian Academy of Sciences heard with indignation from the
newspapers of Albert Einstein's participation in atrocity-mongering in France
and America. It immediately demanded an explanation. In the meantime
Einstein has announced his withdrawal from the Academy, giving as his reason
that he cannot continue to serve the Prussian State under its present
Government. Being a Swiss citizen, he also, it seems, intends to resign the
Prussian nationality which he acquired in 1913 simply by becoming a full
member of the Academy.
The Prussian Academy of Sciences is particularly distressed by Einstein's
activities as an agitator in foreign countries, as it and its members have always
felt themselves bound by the closest ties to the Prussian State and, while
abstaining strictly from all political partisanship, have alwa58 stressed and
remained faithful to the national idea. It has, therefore, no reason to regret
Einstein's withdrawal.
Prof. Dr. Ernst Heymann,
Perpetual Secretary.
Le Coq, near Ostende, April 5, 1933
To the Prussian Academy of Sciences,
I have received information from a thoroughly reliable source
that the Academy of Sciences has spoken in an official statement
of "Einstein's participation in atrocity-mongering in America and
France."
I hereby declare that I have never taken any part in
atrocity-mongering, and I must add that I have seen nothing of
any such mongering anywhere. In general people have contented
themselves with reproducing and commenting on the official
statements and orders of responsible members of the German
Government, together with the programme for the annihilation of
the German Jews by economic methods.
The statements I have issued to the Press were concerned with
my intention to resign my position in the Academy and renounce
my Prussian citizenship; I gave as my reason for these steps that
I did not wish to live in a country where the individual does not
58
enjoy equality before the law and freedom to say and teach what
he likes.
Further, I described the present state of affairs in Germany as a
state of psychic distemper in the masses and also made some
remarks about its causes.
In a written document which I allowed the International League
for combating Anti-Semitism to make use of for the purpose of
enlisting support, and which was not intended for the Press at all,
I also called upon all sensible people, who are still faithful to the
ideals of a civilization in peril, to do their utmost to prevent this
mass-psychosis, which is exhibiting itself in such terrible
symptoms in Germany to-day, from spreading further.
It would have been an easy matter for the Academy to get hold
of a correct version of my words before issuing the sort of
statement about me that it has. The German Press has
reproduced a deliberately distorted version of my words, as
indeed was only to be expected with the Press muzzled as it is
to-day.
I am ready to stand by every word I have published. In return, I
expect the Academy to communicate this statement of mine to
its members and also to the German public before which I have
been slandered, especially as it has itself had a hand in slandering
me before that public.
The Academy's Answer of April 11, 1933
The Academy would like to point out that its statement of April
1, 1933. was based not merely on German but principally on
foreign, particularly French and Belgian, newspaper reports
which Herr Einstein has not contradicted; in addition, it had
before it his much-canvassed statement to the League for
combating anti-Semitism, in which he deplores Germany's
relapse into the barbarism of long-passed ages. Moreover, the
Academy has reason to know that Herr Einstein, who according
to his own statement has taken no part in atrocitymongering, has
at least done nothing to counteract unjust suspicions and
slanders, which, in the opinion of the Academy, it was his duty
as one of its senior members to do. Instead of that Herr Einstein
has made statements, and in foreign countries at that, such as,
59
coming from a man of world-wide reputation, were bound to be
exploited and abused by the enemies not merely of the present
German Government but of the whole German people.
For the Prussian Academy of Sciences,
(Signed) H. von Ficker,
E. Heymann,
Perpetual Secretaries.
Berlin, April 7, 1933
The Prussian Academy of Sciences.
Professor Albert Einstein, Leyden,
c/o Prof. Ehrenfest, Witte Rosenstr.
Dear Sir,
As the present Principal Secretary of the Prussian Academy I
beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communication dated
March 28 announcing your resignation of your membership of
the Academy. The Academy took cognizance of your
resignation in its plenary session of March 30, 1933.
While the Academy profoundly regrets the turn events have
taken, this regret is inspired by the thought that a man of the
highest scientific authority, whom many years of work among
Germans and many years of membership of our society must
have made familiar with the German character and German
habits of thought, should have chosen this moment to associate
himself with a body of people abroad who--partly no doubt
through ignorance of actual conditions and events--have done
much damage to our German people by disseminating erroneous
views and unfounded rumours. We had confidently expected
that one who had belonged to our Academy for so long would
have ranged himself, irrespective of his own political sympathies,
on the side of the defenders of our nation against the flood of lies
which has been let loose upon it. In these days of mud-slinging,
some of it vile, some of it ridiculous, a good word for the
German people from you in particular might have produced a
great effect, especially abroad. Instead of which your testimony
has served as a handle to the enemies not merely of the present
Government but of the German people. This has come as a
bitter and grievous disappointment to us, which would no doubt
have led inevitably to a parting of the ways even if we had not
60
received your resignation.
Yours faithfully,
(signed) von Ficker.
Le Coq-sur-Mer, Belgium, April 12, 1933
To the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Berlin.
I have received your communication of the seventh instant and
deeply deplore the mental attitude displayed in it.
As regards the fact, I can only reply as follows: What you say
about my behaviour is, at bottom, merely another form of the
statement you have already published, in which you accuse me
of having taken part in atrocity-mongering against the German
nation. I have already, in my last letter, characterized this
accusation as slanderous.
You have also remarked that a "good word" on my part for "the
German people" would have produced a great effect abroad. To
this I must reply that such a testimony as you suggest would have
been equivalent to a repudiation of all those notions of justice
and liberty for which I have all my life stood. Such a testimony
would not be, as you put it, a good word for the German nation;
on the contrary, it would only have helped the cause of those
who are seeking to undermine the ideas and principles which
have won for the German nation a place of honour in the
civilized world. By giving such a testimony in the present
circumstances I should have been contributing, even if only
indirectly, to the barbarization of manners and the destruction of
all existing cultural values.
It was for this reason that I felt compelled to resign from the
Academy, and your letter only shows me how right I was to do
so.
Munich, Aril 8, 1933
From the Bavarian Academy of Sciences to Professor Albert Einstein.
Sir,
61
In your letter to the Prussian Academy of Sciences you have
given the present state of affairs in Germany as the reason for
your resignation. The Bavarian Academy of Sciences, which
some years ago elected you a corresponding member, is also a
German Academy, closely allied to the Prussian and other
German Academies; hence your withdrawal from the Prussian
Acadeiny of Sciences is bound to affect your relations with our
Academy.
We must therefore ask you how you envisage your relations with
our Academy after what has passed between yourself and the
Prussian Academy.
The President of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.
Le Coq-sur-Mer, April 21, 1933
To the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Munich.
I have given it as the reason for my resignation from the Prussian
Academy that in the present circumstances I have no wish either
to be a German citizen or to remain in a position of
quasi-dependence on the Prussian Ministry of Education.
These reasons would not, in themselves, involve the severing of
my relations with the Bavarian Academy. If I nevertheless desire
my name to be removed from the list of members, it is for a
different reason.
The primary duty of an Academy is to encourage and protect
the scientific life of a country. The learned societies of Germany
have, however--to the best of knowledge--stood by and said
nothing while a not inconsiderable proportion of German savants
and students, and also of professional men of university
education, have been deprived of all chance of getting
employment or earning their livings in Germany. I would rather
not belong to any society which behaves in such a manner, even
if it does so under external pressure.
A Reply
The following lines are Einstein's answer to an invitation to associate
himself with a French manifesto against Anti-Semitism in Germany.
62
I have considered this most important proposal, which has a bearing on
several things that I have nearly at heart, carefully from every angle. As a
result I have come to the conclusion that I cannot take a personal part in this
extremely important affair, for two reasons:--
In the first place I am, after all, still a German citizen, and in the second I am a
Jew. As regards the first point I must add that I have worked in German
institutions and have always been treated with full confidence in Germany.
However deeply I may regret the things that are being done there, however
strongly I am bound to condemn the terrible mistakes that are being made
with the approval of the Government; it is impossible for me to take part
personally in an enterprise set on foot by responsible members of a foreign
Government. In order that you may appreciate this fully, suppose that a
French citizen in a more or less analogous situation had got up a protest
against the French Government's action in conjunction with prominent German
statesmen. Even if you fully admitted that the protest was amply warranted by
the facts, you would still, I expect, regard the behaviour of your fellow-citizen
as an act of treachery. If Zola had felt it necessary to leave France at the time
of the Dreyfus case, he would still certainly not have associated himself with a
protest by German official personages, however much he might have
approved of their action. He would have confined himself to--blushing for his
countrymen. In the second place, a protest against injustice and violence is
incomparably more valuable if it comes entirely from people who have been
prompted to it purely by sentiments of humanity and a love of Pew This
cannot be said of a man like me, a few who regards other Jews as his
brothers. For him, an injustice done to the Jews is the same as an injustice
done to himself. He must not be the judge in his own case, but wait for the
judgment of impartial outsiders.
These are my reasons. But I should like to add that I have always honoured
and admired that highly developed sense of justice which is one of the noblest
features of the French tradition.
IV
The Jews
Jewish Ideals
The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice,
and the desire for personal independence--these are the features of the Jewish
tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it.
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Those who are raging to-day against the ideals of reason and individual liberty
and are trying to establish a spiritless State-slavery by brute force rightly see
in us their irreconcilable foes. History has given us a difficult row to hoe; but
so long as we remain devoted servants of truth, justice, and liberty, we shall
continue not merely to survive as the oldest of living peoples, but by creative
work to bring forth fruits which contribute to the ennoblement of the human
race, as heretofore.
Is there a Jewish Point of View?
In the philosophical sense there is, in my opinion, no specifically Jewish
outlook. Judaism seems to me to be concerned almost exclusively with the
moral attitude in life and to life. I look upon it as the essence of an attitude to
life which is incarnate in the Jewish people rather than the essence of the laws
laid down in the Thora and interpreted in the Talmud. To me, the Thora and
the Talmud are merely the most important evidence for the manner in which
the Jewish conception of life held sway in earlier times.
The essence of that conception seems to me to lie in an affirmative attitude to
the life of all creation. The life of the individual has meaning only in so far as it
aids in making the life of every living thing nobler and more beautiful. Life is
sacred--that is to say, it is the supreme value, to which all other values are
subordinate. The hallowing of the supra-individual life brings in its train a
reverence for everything spiritual--a particularly characteristic feature of the
Jewish tradition.
Judaism is not a creed: the Jewish God is simply a negation of superstition, an
imaginary result of its elimination. It is also an attempt to base the moral law
on fear, a regrettable and discreditable attempt. Yet it seems to me that the
strong moral tradition of the Jewish nation has to a large extent shaken itself
free from this fear. It is clear also that "serving God" was equated with
"serving the living." The best of the Jewish people, especially the Prophets and
Jesus, contended tirelessly for this.
Judaism is thus no transcendental religion; it is concerned with life as we live it
and can up to a point grasp it, and nothing else. It seems to me, therefore,
doubtful whether it can be called a religion in the accepted sense of the word,
particularly as no "faith" but the sanctification of life in a supra-personal sense
is demanded of the Jew.
But the Jewish tradition also contains something else, something which finds
splendid expression in many of the Psalms--namely, a sort of intoxicated joy
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and amazement at the beauty and grandeur of this world, of which, man can
just form a faint notion. It is the feeling from which true scientific research
draws its spiritual sustenance, but which also seems to find expression in the
song of birds. To tack this on to the idea of God seems mere childish
absurdity.
Is what I have described a distinguishing mark of Judaism? Is it to be found
anywhere else under another name? In its pure form, nowhere, not even in
Judaism, where the pure doctrine is obscured by much worship of the letter.
Yet Judaism seems to me one of its purest and most vigorous manifestations.
This applies particularly to the fundamental principle of the sanctification of
life.
It is characteristic that the animals were expressly included in the command to
keep holy the Sabbath day, so strong was the feeling that the ideal demands
the solidarity of all living things. The insistence on the solidarity of all human
beings finds still stronger expression, apd it is no mere chance that the
demands of Socialism were for the most part first raised by Jews.
How strongly developed this sense of the sanctity of life is in the Jewish
people is admirably illustrated by a little remark which Walter Rathenau once
made to me in conversation: "When a Jew says that he's going hunting to
amuse himself, he lies." The Jewish sense of the sanctity of life could not be
more simply expressed.
Jewish Youth
An Answer to a Questionnaire
It is important that the young should be induced to take an interest in Jewish
questions and difficulties, and you deserve gratitude for devoting yourself to
this task in your paper. This is of moment not merely for the destiny of the
Jews, whose welfare depends on their sticking together and helping each
other, but, over and above that, for the cultivation of the international spirit,
which is in danger everywhere to-day from a narrow-minded nationalism.
Here, since the days of the Prophets, one of the fairest fields of activity has
lain open to our nation, scattered as it is over the earth and united only by a
common tradition.
Addresses on Reconstruction in Palestine
I
65
Ten years ago, when I first had the pleasure of addressing you on behalf of
the Zionist cause, almost all our hopes were still fixed on the future. To-day
we can look back on these ten years with joy; for in that time the united
energies of the Jewish people have accomplished a splendid piece of
successful constructive work in Palestine, which certainly exceeds anything
that we dared to hope then.
We have also successfully stood the severe test to which the events of the last
few years have subjected us. Ceaseless work, supported by a noble purpose,
is leading slowly but surely to success. The latest pronouncements of the
British Government indicate a return to a juster judgment of our case; this we
recognize with gratitude.
But we must never forget what this crisis has taught us--namely, that the
establishment of satisfactory relations between the Jews and the Arabs is not
England's affair but ours. We--that is to say, the Arabs and ourselves--have
got to agree on the main outlines of an advantageous partnership which shall
satisfy the needs of both nations. A just solution of this problem and one
worthy of both nations is an end no less important and no less worthy of our
efforts than the promotion of the work of construction itself. Remember that
Switzerland represents a higher stage of political development than any
national state, precisely because of the greater political problems which had to
be solved before a stable community could be built up out of groups of
different nationality.
Much remains to be done, but one at least of Herzl's aims has already been
realized: its task in Palestine has given the Jewish people an astonishing degree
of solidarity and the optimism without which no organism can lead a healthy
life.
Anything we may do for the common purpose is done not merely for our
brothers in Palestine, but for the well-being and honour of the whole Jewish
people.
II
We are assembled to-day for the purpose of calling to mind our age-old
community, its destiny, and its problems. It is a community of moral tradition,
which has always shown its strength and vitality in times of stress. In all ages it
has produced men who embodied the conscience of the Western world,
defenders of human dignity and justice.
So long as we ourselves care about this community it will continue to exist to
66
the benefit of mankind, in spite of the fact that it possesses no self-contained
organization. A decade or two ago a group of far-sighted men, among whom
Herzl of immortal memory stood out above the rest, came to the conclusion
that we needed a spiritual centre in crder to preserve our sense of solidarity in
difficult times. Thus arose the idea of Zionism and the work of settlement in
Palestine, the successful realization of which we have been permitted to
witness, at least in its highly promising beginnings.
I have had the privilege of seeing, to my great joy and satisfaction, how much
this achievement has contributed to the recovery of the Jewish people, which
is exposed, as a minority among the nations, not merely to external dangers,
but also to internal ones of a psychological nature.
The crisis which the work of construction has had to face in the last few years
has lain heavy upon us and is not yet completely surmounted. But the most
recent reports show that the world, and especially the British Government, is
disposed to recognize the great things which lie behind our struggle for the
Zionist ideal. Let us at this moment remember with gratitude our leader
Weizmann, whose zeal and circumspection have helped the good cause to
success.
The difficulties we have been through have also brought some good in their
train. They have shown us once more how strong the bond is which unites the
Jews of all countries in a common destiny. The crisis has also purified our
attitude to the question of Palestine, purged it of the dross of nationalism. It
has been clearly proclaimed that we are not seeking to create a political
society, but that our aim is, in accordance with the old tradition of Jewry, a
cultural one in the widest sense of the word. That being so, it is for us to solve
the problem of living side by side with our brother the Arab in an open,
generous, and worthy manner. We have here an opportunity of showing what
we have learnt in the thousands of years of our martyrdom. If we choose the
right path we shall succeed and give the rest of the world a fine example.
Whatever we do for Palestine we do it for the honour and well-being of the
whole Jewish people.
III
I am delighted to have the opportunity of addressing a few words to the youth
of this country which is faithful to the common aims of Jewry. Do not be
discouraged by the difficulties which confront us in Palestine. Such things
serve to test the will to live of our community.
67
Certain proceedings and pronouncements of the English administration have
been justly criticized. We must not, however, leave it at that but learn by
experience.
We need to pay great attention to our relations with the Arabs. By cultivating
these carefully we shall be able in future to prevent things from becoming so
dangerously strained that people can take advantage of them to provoke acts
of hostility. This goal is perfectly within our reach, because our work of
construction has been, and must continue to be, carried out in such a manner
as to serve the real interests of the Arab population also.
In this way we shall be able to avoid getting ourselves quite so often into the
position, disagreeable for Jews and Arabs alike, of having to call in the
mandatory Power as arbitrator. We shall thereby be following not merely the
dictates of Providence but also our traditions, which alone give the Jewish
community meaning and stability.
For that community is not, and must never become, a political one; this is the
only permanent source whence it can draw new strength and the only ground
on which its existence can be justified.
IV
For the last two thousand years the common property of the Jewish people
has consisted entirely of its past. Scattered over the wide world, our nation
possessed nothing in common except its carefully guarded tradition. Individual
Jews no doubt produced great work, but it seemed as if the Jewish people as
a whole had not the strength left for great collective achievements.
Now all that is changed. History has set us a great and noble task in the shape
of active cooperation in the building up of Palestine. Eminent members of our
race are already at work with all their might on the realization of this aim. The
opportunity is presented to us of setting up centres of civilization which the
whole Jewish people can regard as its work. We nurse the hope of erecting in
Palestine a home of our own national culture which shall help to awaken the
near East to new economic and spiritual life.
The object which the leaders of Zionism have in view is not a political but a
social and cultural one. The community in Palestine must approach the social
ideal of our forefathers as it is laid down in the Bible, and at the same time
become a seat of modern intellectual life, a spiritual centre for the Jews of the
whole world. In accordance with this notion, the establishment of a Jewish
university in Jerusalem constitutes one of the most important aims of the
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Zionist organization.
During the last few months I have been to America in order to help to raise
the material basis for this university there. The success of this enterprise was
quite natural. Thanks to the untiring energy and splendid self-sacrificing spirit
of the Jewish doctors in America, we have succeeded in collecting enough
money for the creation of a medical faculty, and the preliminary work isbeing
started at once. After this success I have no doubt that the material basis for
the other faculties will soon be forthcoming. The medical faculty is first of all to
be developed as a research institute and to concentrate on making the country
healthy, a most important item in the work of development. Teaching on a
large scale will only become important later on. As a number of highly
competent scientific workers have already signified their readiness to take up
appointments at the university, the establishment of a medical faculty seems to
be placed beyond all doubt. I may add that a special fund for the university,
entirely distinct from the general fund for the development of the country, has
been opened. For the latter considerable sums have been collected during
these months in America, thanks to the indefatigable labours of Professor
Weizmann and other Zionist leaders, chiefly through the self-sacrificing spirit
of the middle classes. I conclude with a warm appeal to the Jews in Germany
to contribute all they can, in spite of the present economic difficulties, for the
building up of the Jewish home in Palestine. This is not a matter of charity, but
an enterprise which concerns all Jews and the success of which promises to
be a source of the highest satisfaction to all.
V
For us Jews Palestine is not just a charitable or colonial enterprise, but a
problem of central importance for the Jewish people. Palestine is not primarily
a place of refuge for the Jews of Eastern Europe, but the embodiment of the
re-awakening corporate spirit of the whole Jewish nation. Is it the right
moment for this corporate sense to be awakened and strengthened? This is a
question to which I feel compelled, not merely by my spontaneous feelings but
on rational grounds, to return an unqualified "yes."
Let us just cast our eyes over the history of the Jews in Germany during the
past hundred years. A century ago our forefathers, with few exceptions, lived
in the ghetto. They were poor, without political rights, separated from the
Gentiles by a barrier of religious traditions, habits of life, and legal restrictions;
their intellectual development was restricted to their own literature, and they
had remained almost unaffected by the mighty advance of the European
intellect which dates from the Renaissance. And yet these obscure, humble
people had one great advantage over us each of them belonged in every fibre
69
of his being to a community m which he was completely absorbed, in which
he felt himself a fully pnvileged member, and which demanded nothing of him
that was contrary to his natural habits of thought. Our forefathers in those
days were pretty poor specimens intellectually and physically, but socially
speaking they enjoyed an enviable spiritual equilibrium.
Then came emancipation, which suddenly opened up undreamed-of
possibilities to the individual. Some few rapidly made a position for
themselves in the higher walks of business and social life. They greedily
lapped up the splendid triumphs which the art and science of the Western
world had achieved. They joined in the process with burning enthusiasm,
themselves making contributions of lasting value. At the same time they
imitated the external forms of Gentile life, departed more and more from their
religious and social traditions, and adopted Gentile customs, manners, and
habits of thought. It seemed as though they were completely losing their
identity in the superior numbers and more highly organized culture of the
nations among whom they lived, so that in a few generations there would be
no trace of them left. A complete disappearance of Jewish nationality in
Central and Western Europe seemed inevitable.
But events turned out otherwise. Nationalities of different race seem to have
an instinct which prevents them from fusing. However much the Jews adapted
themselves, in language, manners, and to a great extent even in the forms of
religion, to the European peoples among whom they lived, the feeling of
strangeness between the Jews and their hosts never disappeared. This
spontaneous feeling is the ultimate cause of anti-Semitism, which is therefore
not to be got rid of by well-meaning propaganda. Nationalities want to pursue
their own path, not to blend. A satisfactory state of affairs can be brought
about only by mutual toleration and respect.
The first step in that direction is that we Jews should once more become
conscious of our existence as a nationality and regain the self-respect that is
necessary to a healthy existence. We must learn once more to glory in our
ancestors and our history and once again take upon ourselves, as a nation,
cultural tasks of a sort calculated to strengthen our sense of the community. It
is not enough for us to play a part as individuals in the cultural development of
the human race, we must also tackle tasks which only nations as a whole can
perform. Only so can the Jews regain social health.
It is from this point of view that I would have you look at the Zionist
movement. To-day history has assigned to us the task of taking an active part
in the economic and cultural reconstruction of our native land. Enthusiasts,
men of brilliant gifts, have cleared the way, and many excellent members of
70
our race are prepared to devote themselves heart and soul to the cause. May
every one of them fully realize the importance of this work and contribute,
according to his powers, to its success!
The Jewish Community
A speech in London
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is no easy matter for me to overcome my natural inclination to a life of quiet
contemplation. But I could not remain deaf to the appeal of the O.R.T. and
O.Z.E. societies*; for in responding to it I am responding, as it were, to the
appeal of our sorely oppressed Jewish nation.
The position of our scattered Jewish community is a moral barometer for the
political world. For what surer index of political morality and respect for
justice can there be than the attitude of the nations towards a defenceless
minority, whose peculiarity lies in their preservation of an ancient cultural
tradition?
*Jewish charitable associations.
This barometer is low at the present moment, as we are painfully aware from
the way we are treated. But it is this very lowness that confirms me in the
conviction that it is our duty to preserve and consolidate our community.
Embedded in the tradition of the Jewish people there is a love of justice and
reason which must continue to work for the good of all nations now and in the
future. In modern times this tradition has produced Spinoza and Karl Marx.
Those who would preserve the spirit must also look after the body to which it
is attached. The O.Z.E. society literally looks after the bodies of our people.
In Eastern Europe it is working day and night to help our people there, on
whom the economic depression has fallen particularly heavily, to keep body
and soul together; while the O.R.T. society is trying to get rid of a severe
social and economic handicap under which the Jews have laboured since the
Middle Ages. Because we were then excluded from all directly productive
occupations, we were forced into the purely commercial ones. The only way
of really helping the Jew in Eastern countries is to give him access to new
fields of activity, for which he is struggling all over the world. This is the grave
problem which the O.R.T. society is successfully tackling.
It is to you English fellow-Jews that we now appeal to help us in this great
71
enterprise which splendid men have set on foot. The last few years, nay, the
last few days, have brought us a disappointment which must have touched you
in particular nearly. Do not gird at fate, but rather look on these events as a
reason for remaining true to the cause of the Jewish commonwealth. I am
convinced that in doing that we shall also indirectly be promoting those
general human ends which we must always recognize as the highest.
Remember that difficulties and obstacles are a valuable source of health and
strength to any society. We should not have survived for thousands of years
as a community if our bed had been of roses; of that I am quite sure.
But we have a still fairer consolation. Our friends are not exactly numerous,
but among them are men of noble spirit and strong sense of justice, who have
devoted their lives to uplifting human society and liberating the individual from
degrading oppression.
We are happy and fortunate to have such men from the Gentile world among
us to-night; their presence lends an added solemnity to this memorable
evening. It gives me great pleasure to see before me Bernard Shaw and H. G.
Wells, to whose view of life I am particularly attracted.
You, Mr. Shaw, have succeeded in winning the affection and joyous
admiration of the world while pursuing a path that has led many others to a
martyr's crown. You have not merely preached moral sermons to your
fellows; you have actually mocked at things which many of them held sacred.
You have done what only the born artist can do. From your magic box you
have produced innumerable little figures which, while resembling human
beings, are compact not of flesh and blood, but of brains, wit, and charm.
And yet in a way they are more human than we are ourselves, and one almost
forgets that they are creations not of Nature, but of Bernard Shaw. You make
these charming little figures dance in a miniature world in front of which the
Graces stand sentinel and permit no bitterness to enter. He who has looked
into this little world sees our actual world in a new light; its puppets insinuate
themselves into real people, making them suddenly look quite different. By
thus holding the mirror up to us all you have had a liberating effect on us such
as hardly any other of our contemporaries has done and have relieved life of
something of its earth-bound heaviness. For this we are all devoutly grateful to
you, and also to fate, which along with grievous plagues has also given us the
physician and liberator of our souls. I personally am also grateful to you for
the unforgettable words which you have addressed to my mythical namesake
who makes life so difficult for me, although he is really, for all his clumsy,
formidable size, quite a harmless fellow.
72
To you all I say that the existence and destiny of our people depend less on
external factors than on ourselves remaining faithful to the moral traditions
which have enabled us to survive for thousands of years despite the heavy
storms that have broken over our heads. In the service of life sacrifice
becomes grace.
Working Palestine
Among Zionist organizations "Working Palestine" is the one whose work is of
most direct benefit to the most valuable class of people living there--namely,
those who are transforming deserts into flourishing settlements by the labour
of their hands. These workers are a selection, made on a voluntary basis,
from the whole Jewish nation, an élite composed of strong, confident, and
unselfish people. They are not ignorant labourers who sell the labour of their
hands to the highest bidder, but educated, intellectually vigorous, free men,
from whose peaceful struggle with a neglected soil the whole Jewish nation
are the gainers, directly and indirectly. By lightening their heavy lot as far as
we can we shall be saving the most valuable sort of human life; for the first
settlers' struggle on ground not yet made habitable is a difficult and dangerous
business involving a heavy personal sacrifice. How true this is, only they can
judge who have seen it with their own eyes. Anyone who helps to improve the
equipment of these men is helping on the good work at a crucial point.
It is, moreover, this working class alone that has it in its power to establish
healthy relations with the Arabs, which is the most important political task of
Zionism. Administrations come and go; but it is human relations that finally
turn the scale in the lives of nations. Therefore to support "Working Palestine"
is at the same time to promote a humane and worthy policy in Palestine, and
to oppose an effective resistance to those undercurrents of narrow nationalism
from which the whole political world, and in a less degree the small political
world of Palestine affairs, is suffering.
Jewish Recovery
I gladly accede to your paper's request that I should address an appeal to the
Jews of Hungary on behalf of Keren Hajessod.
The greatest enemies of the national consciousness and honour of the Jews
are fatty degeneration--by which I mean the unconscionableness which comes
from wealth and ease--and a kind of inner dependence on the surrounding
Gentile world which comes from the loosening of the fabric of Jewish society.
The best in man can flourish only when he loses himself in a community.
73
Hence the moral danger of the Jew who has lost touch with his own people
and is regarded as a foreigner by the people of his adoption. Only too often a
contemptible and joyless egoism has resulted from such circumstances. The
weight of outward oppression on the Jewish people is particularly heavy at the
moment. But this very bitterness has done us good. A revival of Jewish
national life, such as the last generation could never have dreamed of, has
begun. Through the operation of a newly awakened sense of solidarity among
the Jews, the scheme of colonizing Palestine launched by a handful of devoted
and judicious leaders in the face of apparently insuperable difficulties, has
already prospered so far that I feel no doubt about its permanent success.
The value of this achievement for the Jews everywhere is very great. Palestine
will be a centre of culture for all Jews, a refuge for the most grievously
oppressed, a field of action for the best among us, a unifying ideal, and a
means of attaining inward health for the Jews of the whole world.
Anti-Semitism and Academic Youth
So long as we lived in the ghetto our Jewish nationality involved for us
material difficulties and sometimes physical danger, but no social or
psychological problems. With emancipation the position changed, particularly
for those Jews who turned to the intellectual professions. In school and at the
university the young Jew is exposed to the influence of a society with a definite
national tinge, which he respects and admires, from which he receives his
mental sustenance, to which he feels himself to belong, while it, on the other
hand, treats him, as one of an alien race, with a certain contempt and hostility.
Driven by the suggestive influence of this psychological superiority rather than
by utilitarian considerations, he turns his back on his people and his traditions,
and considers himself as belonging entirely to the others while he tries in vain
to conceal from himself and them the fact that the relation is not reciprocal.
Hence that pathetic creature, the baptized Jewish Geheimrat of yesterday
and to-day. In most cases it is not pushfulness and lack of character that have
made him what he is, but, as I have said, the suggestive power of an
environment superior in numbers and influence. He knows, of course, that
many admirable sons of the Jewish people have made important contributions
to the glory of European civilization; but have they not all, with a few
exceptions, done much the same as he?
In this case, as in many mental disorders, the cure lies in a clear knowledge of
one's condition and its causes. We must be conscious of our alien race and
draw the logical conclusions from it. It is no use trying to convince the others
of our spiritual and intellectual equality by arguments addressed to the reason,
when their attitude does not originate in their intellects at all. Rather must we
emancipate ourselves socially and supply our social needs, in the main,
74
ourselves. We must have our own students' societies and adopt an attitude of
courteous but consistent reserve to the Gentiles. And let us live after our own
fashion there and not ape duelling and drinking customs which are foreign to
our nature. It is possible to be a civilized European and a good citizen and at
the same time a faithful Jew who loves his race and honours his fathers. If we
remember this and act accordingly, the problem of anti-Semitism, in so far as
it is of a social nature, is solved for us.
A Letter to Professor Dr. Hellpach, Minister of State
Dear Herr Hellpach,
I have read your article on Zionism and the Zurich Congress and
feel, as a strong devotee of the Zionist idea, that I must answer
you, even if it is only shortly.
The Jews are a community bound together by ties of blood and
tradition, and not of religion only: the attitude of the rest of the
world towards them is sufficient proof of this. When I came to
Germany fifteen years ago I discovered for the first time that I
was a Jew, and I owe this discovery more to Gentiles than Jews.
The tragedy of the Jews is that they are people of a definite
historical type, who lack the support of a community to keep
them together. The result is a want of solid foundations in the
individual which amounts in its extremer forms to moral
instability. I realized that the only possible salvation for the race
was that every Jew in the world should become attached to a
living society to which the individual rejoiced to belong and
which enabled him to bear the hatred and the humiliations that he
has to put up with from the rest of the world.
I saw worthy Jews basely caricatured, and the sight made my
heart bleed. I saw how schools, comic papers, and innumerable
other forces of the Gentile majority undermined the confidence
even of the best of my fellow-Jews, and felt that this could not
be allowed to continue.
Then I realized that only a common enterprise dear to the hearts
of Jews all over the world could restore this people to health. It
was a great achievement of Herzl's to have realized and
proclaimed at the top of his voice that, the traditional attitude of
the Jews being what it was, the establishment of a national home
75
or, more accurately, a centre in Palestine, was a suitable object
on which to concentrate our efforts.
All this you call nationalism, and there is something in the
accusation. But a communal purpose, without which we can
neither live nor die in this hostile world, can always be called by
that ugly name. In any case it is a nationalism whose aim is not
power but dignity and health. If we did not have to live among
intolerant, narrow-minded, and violent people, I should be the
first to throw over all nationalism in favour of universal humanity.
The objection that we Jews cannot be proper citizens of the
German State, for example, if we want to be a "nation," is based
on a misunderstanding of the nature of the State which springs
from the intolerance of national majorities. Against that
intolerance we shall never be safe, whether we call ourselves a
"people" (or "nation") or not.
I have put all this with brutal frankness for the sake of brevity,
but I know from your writings that you are a man who attends to
the sense, not the form.
Letter to an Arab
March 15, 1930
Sir,
Your letter has given me great pleasure. It shows me that there is good will
available on your side too for solving the present difficulties in a manner
worthy of both our nations. I believe that these difficulties are more
psychological than real, and that they can be got over if both sides bring
honesty and good will to the task.
What makes the present position so bad is the fact that Jews and Arabs
confront each other as opponents before the mandatory power. This state of
affairs is unworthy of both nations and can only be altered by our finding a via
media on which both sides agree.
I will now tell you how I think that the present difficulties might be remedied;
at the same time I must add that this is only my personal opinion, which I have
discussed with nobody. I am writing this letter in German because I am not
capable of writing it in English myself and because I want myself to bear the
76
entire responsibility for it. You will, I am sure, be able to get some Jewish
friend of conciliation to translate it.
A Privy Council is to be formed to which the Jews and Arabs shall each send
four representatives, who must be independent of all political parties.
Each group to be composed as follows:--
A doctor, elected by the Medical Association;
A lawyer, elected by the lawyers;
A working men's representative, elected by the trade unions;
An ecclesiastic, elected by the ecclesiastics.
These eight people are to meet once a week. They undertake not to espouse
the sectional interests of their profession or nation but conscientiously and to
the best of their power to aim at the welfare of the whole population of the
country. Their deliberations shall be secret and they are strictly forbidden to
give any information about them, even in private. When a decision has been
reached on any subject in which not less than three members on each side
concur, it may be published, but only in the name of the whole Council. If a
member dissents he may retire from the Council, but he is not thereby
released from the obligation to secrecy. If one of the elective bodies above
specified is dissatisfied with a resolution of the Council, it may repiace its
representative by another.
Even if this "Privy Council" has no definite powers it may nevertheless bring
about the gradual composition of differences, and secure as united
representation of the common interests of the country before the mandatory
power, clear of the dust of ephemeral politics.
Christianity and Judaism
If one purges the Judaism of the Prophets and Christianity as Jesus Christ
taught it of all subsequent additions, especially those of the priests, one is left
with a teaching which is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity.
It is the duty of every man of good will to strive steadfastly in his own little
world to make this teaching of pure humanity a living force, so far as he can. If
he makes an honest attempt in this direction without being crushed and
trampled under foot by his contemporaries, he may consider himself and the
community to which he belongs lucky.
--end