Dear Earl RussellWill you interrupt your busy life for a moment, and play the game ofphilosophy with me?I am attempting to face, in my next book, a question that our generation,perhaps more than most, seems always ready to ask, and never able to answer –What is the meaning or worth of human life? Heretofore this question hasbeen dealt with chie?y by theorists, from Ikhnaton and Lao-tse to Bergsonand Spengler. The result has been a species of intellectual suicide: thought, byits very development, seems to have destroyed the value and signi?cance oflife. The growth and spread of knowledge, for which so many reformers andidealists prayed, appears to bring to its devotees – and, by contagion, to manyothers – a disillusionment which has almost broken the spirit of our race.Astronomers have told us that human a?airs constitute but a moment inthe trajectory of a star; geologists have told us that civilisation is a precariousinterlude between ice ages; biologists have told us that all life is war, a strug-gle for existence among individuals, groups, nations, alliances, and species;historians have told us that ‘progress’ is a delusion, whose glory endsin inevitable decay; psychologists have told us that the will and the self are thehelpless instruments of heredity and environment, and that the once incor-ruptible soul is only a transient incandescence of the brain. The Industriallater years of telegraph house 423Revolution has destroyed the home, and the discovery of contraceptives isdestroying the family, the old morality, and perhaps (through the sterility ofthe intelligent) the race. Love is analysed into a physical congestion, andmarriage becomes a temporary physiological convenience slightly superiorto promiscuity. Democracy has degenerated into such corruption as onlyMilo’s Rome knew; and our youthful dreams of a socialist utopia disappear aswe see, day after day, the inexhaustible acquisitiveness of men. Every inven-tion strengthens the strong and weakens the weak; every new mechanismdisplaces men, and multiplies the horrors of war. God, who was once theconsolation of our brief life, and our refuge in bereavement and su?ering,has apparently vanished from the scene; no telescope, no microscopediscovers him. Life has become, in that total perspective which is philosophy,a ?tful pullulation of human insects on the earth, a planetary eczema that maysoon be cured; nothing is certain in it except defeat and death – a sleep fromwhich, it seems, there is no awakening.We are driven to conclude that the greatest mistake in human history wasthe discovery of truth. It has not made us free, except from delusions thatcomforted us, and restraints that preserved us; it has not made us happy, fortruth is not beautiful, and did not deserve to be so passionately chased. As welook upon it now we wonder why we hurried so to ?nd it. For it appearsto have taken from us every reason for existing, except for the moment’spleasure and tomorrow’s trivial hope.This is the pass to which science and philosophy have brought us. I, whohave loved philosophy for many years, turn from it now back to life itself, andask you, as one who has lived as well as thought, to help me understand.Perhaps the verdict of those who have lived is di?erent from that of thosewho have merely thought. Spare me a moment to tell me what meaning lifehas for you, what help – if any – religion gives you, what keeps you going,what are the sources of your inspiration and your energy, what is the goal ormotive-force of your toil; where you ?nd your consolations and your happi-ness, where in the last resort your treasure lies. Write brie?y if you must;write at leisure and at length if you possibly can; for every word from youwill be precious to me.SincerelyWill DurantAuthor of The Story of Philosophy, Transition, The Mansions of Philosophy, Philosophy and theSocial Problem, etc.Formerly of the Dept. of Philosophy, Columbia University; Ph.D. (Columbia);L.H.D. (Syracuse).P.S. A copy of this letter is being sent to Presidents Hoover and Masaryk; thethe autobiography of bertrand russell 424Rt. Hons. Ramsay MacDonald, Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, and PhilipSnowden; M. Aristide Briand; Signors Benito Mussolini, G. Marconi andG. d’Annunzio; Mme. Curie, Miss Mary Garden and Miss Jane Addams; DeanInge; and Messrs. Josef Stalin, Igor Stravinsky, Leon Trotzky, M. K. Gandhi,Rabindranath Tagore, Ignace Paderewski, Richard Strauss, Albert Einstein,Gerhardt Hauptmann, Thomas Mann, Sigmund Freud, G. B. Shaw, H. G. Wells,John Galsworthy, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Eugene O’Neill.The purpose in view is purely philosophical. I trust, however, that therewill be no objection to my quoting from the replies in my forthcomingbook On the Meaning of Life, one chapter of which will attempt to give someaccount of the attitude towards life of the most eminent of living men andwomen.20th June 1931Dear Mr DurantI am sorry to say that at the moment I am so busy as to be convinced thatlife has no meaning whatever, and that being so, I do not see how I cananswer your questions intelligently.I do not see that we can judge what would be the result of the discovery oftruth, since none has hitherto been discovered.Yours sincerelyBertrand RussellFrom and to Albert EinsteinCaputh bei PotsdamWaldstr. 7/8den 14. Oktober 1931Lieber Bertrand Russell!Ich habe schon lange den Wunsch, Ihnen zu schreiben. Nichts anderes wollte ich dabei, alsIhnen meine hohe Bewunderung ausdrücken. Die Klarheit, Sicherheit, and Unparteilichkeit, mitder Sie die logischen, philosophischen und menschlichen Dinge in Ihren Büchern behandelt haben,steht nicht nur in unserer Generation unerreicht da.Dies zu sagen h?tte ich mich immer gescheut, weil Sie die objektiven Dinge so auch dies selberschon am besten wissen und keine Best?tigung n?tig haben. Aber da l?st mir ein kleiner Journalist,der mich heute aufsuchte, die Zunge. Es handelt sich da um ein internationales journalistischesUnternehmen (Cooperation) dem die besten Leute als Mitarbeiter angeh?ren, und das sich dieAufgabe gestellt hat, das Publikum in allen L?ndern in internationalem Sinne zu erziehen. Mittel:Artikel von Staatsm?nnern und Journalisten, welche einschl?gige Fragen behandeln, werdensystematisch in Zeitungen aller L?nder ver??entlicht.Herr Dr J. Révész geht in kurzem nach England, um für diese Sache zu wirken. Es würde nachmeiner Ueberzeugung wichtig sein, wenn Sie ihm eine kurze Unterredung gew?hrten, damit er Sielater years of telegraph house 425in dieser Angelegenheit informieren kann. Ich richte eine solche Bitte nicht leichthin, an Sie,sondern in der Ueberzeugung, dass die Angelegenheit Ihrer Beachtung wirklich wert sei.In freudiger VerehrungIhrA. EinsteinP.S. Einer Beantwortung dieses Briefes bedarf es nicht.(Translation by Otto Nathan):October 14, 1931Dear Bertrand RussellFor a long time I have had the wish to write you. All I wanted to do, was toexpress my feeling of high admiration of you. The clarity, sureness, and impartial-ity which you have brought to bear to the logical, philosophical and humanproblems dealt with in your books are unrivalled not only in our generation.I have always been reluctant to say this to you because you know about thisyourself as well as you know about objective facts and do not need to receive anycon?rmation from outside. However, a little-known journalist who came to see metoday has now given me an opportunity to open my heart to you. I am referring toan international journalistic enterprise (Cooperation) to which the best peoplebelong as contributors and which has the purpose of educating the public in allcountries in international understanding. The method to be used is to publishsystematically articles by statesmen and journalists on pertinent problems innewspapers of all countries.The gentleman in question, Dr J. Révész, will visit England in the near future topromote the project. I believe it would be important if you could grant him a shortinterview so he could inform you about the matter. I have hesitated to ask of youthis favour, but I am convinced that the project really deserves your attention.With warm admiration,YoursA. EinsteinP.S. There is no need to reply to this letter.Telegraph HouseHarting, Peters?eld7.1.35Dear EinsteinI have long wished to be able to invite you for a visit, but had until recentlyno house to which to ask you. Now this obstacle is removed, & I very muchhope you will come for a week-end. Either next Saturday (12th) or the 19thwould suit me; after that I shall be for 6 weeks in Scandinavia & Austria, so ifthe 12th & 19th are both impossible, it will be necessary to wait till thesecond half of March. I can scarcely imagine a greater pleasure than a visitfrom you would give me, & there are many matters both in the world ofthe autobiography of bertrand russell 426physics & in that of human a?airs on which I should like to know youropinion more de?nitely than I do.Yours very sincerelyBertrand RussellFrom and to Henri BarbusseVigiliaMiramar par Théoule(Alpes-Maritimes)10 février 1927Cher et éminent confrèrePermettez-mois de joindre un appel personnel à celui que vous trouverez ci-inclus et auquel jevous demande de bien vouloir adhérer. Votre nom est un de ceux qui s’imposent dans une ligue degrands honnêtes gens qui se lèveraient pour enrayer et combattre l’envahissante barbarie du fascisme.J’ai rédigé cet appel spontanément, sans obéir à aucune suggestion d’ordre politique ou autre. Jen’ai écouté que le sentiment de la solidarité et la voix du bon sens: le mal n’est pas sans remède; il ya ‘quelque chose à faire’; et ce qu’on peut faire surtout et avant tout devant les proportionse?rayantes qu’a prises le fascisme, c’est de dresser une force morale, de mobiliser la vraie consciencepublique, et de donner une voix explicite à une réprobation qui est répandue partout.Je dois ajouter que, sur la teneur de cet appel, j’ai échangé des vues avec Romain Rolland, qui estde tout coeur avec moi, et qui estime comme moi qu’une levée des esprits libres, qu’une protestationdes personnes éclairées et respectées, est seule susceptible, si elle organisée et continue, de mettre unfrein à un état de choses épouvantable.Je tiens en?n à vous dire que j’ai l’intention de créer très prochainement une revue internation-ale: Monde, qui aura pour but de di?user de grands principes humains dans le chaosinternational actuel, de lutter contre l’esprit et la propagande réactionnaires. Cette publicationpeut devenir, sur le plan intellectuel, artistique, moral et social, une importante tribune, si despersonnalités comme vous le veulent bien. Elle servira de véhicule à la voix du Comité, et donneracorps à sa haute protestation.Je vous serais reconnaissant si vous me disiez que vous acceptez d’être considéré comme uncollaborateur éventuel de Monde.Je vous serais également obligé de me répondre au sujet de l’appel par une lettre dont je pourraisfaire état le cas échéant, en la publiant en son entier ou en extraits.Croyez à mes sentiments de haute considération dévouée.Henri BarbusseSylvieAumont par Senlis(Oise)12 décembre 1932Mon cher RussellLe Comité Tom Mooney voulant pro?ter du changement de gouvernement aux Etats-Unis pourlater years of telegraph house 427arriver à la solution de l’a?aire Tom Mooney, au sujet de laquelle de nouvelles révélations viennentencore de se produire, a décidé l’envoi au Président Roosevelt de la lettre ci-jointe qui bien quecon?ue en termes o?ciels et très déférents, quoique fermes, nous parait susceptible d’apporterréellement un terme au scandaleux martyre de Tom Mooney et de Billings.Je vous demandé de bien vouloir y apposer votre signature et de me la renvoyer d’urgence.Croyez à mes sentiments amicaux.Henri BarbusseJe vous envoie d’autre part une brochure éditée par le Comité Tom Mooney.47 Emperor’s GateS.W.716th December 1932Dear BarbusseI am at all times willing to do anything that seems to me likely to helpMooney, but I have a certain hesitation about the draft letter that you havesent me.You will, of course, remember that in the time of Kerensky the RussianGovernment made an appeal to President Wilson on the subject, and that he,in consequence, had the Mooney case investigated by a number of eminentlegal authorities who reported favourably to Mooney. The State of California,however, pointed out that the President had no right to interfere with Stateadministration of justice.I do not think there is very much point in appealing to the President Elect,as he will merely take shelter behind his lack of legal power. In any case itwould be no use presenting the letter until after he becomes President, whichwill, I think, be on March 4th. There is no doubt also that at this momentAmerican public opinion is not feeling particularly friendly to either yourcountry or mine, and I doubt whether we can usefully intervene untilpassions have cooled.Yours sincerelyBertrand RussellThis letter shows that I was not always impetuous.From Count Michael Károlyi The White Hall Hotel70 Guildford St, W.C.15th Feb. 1935My dear RussellI want to thank you for the brilliant letter you wrote for the defence ofRákosi.2The trial is still on, and the ?nal sentence may come any day now.If he does not get a death sentence it will be due in very great part to yourintervention. I fear in this case, however, that he will be imprisonedfor life. Of course, we will try to save him even so – perhaps we can succeedthe autobiography of bertrand russell 428in getting him exchanged for something or other from the Sovietgovernment.The last time I saw you, you invited me to spend a week-end with you. If Iam not inconveniencing you I should like to come and see you, not thisSunday, but any other time which would suit you.There are so many things to talk over with you – please let me know.My new address is as above, and my telephone number is Terminus 5512.Yours very sincerelyM. KárolyiFrom Gerald Brenan, author of June 1st 1935The Spanish Labyrinth and other Churrianabooks [Malaga]Dear BertieI see that I have to say something really very stupid indeed to draw a letterfrom you. My letter was written late at night, when ones thoughts and fearstend to carry one away, and I regretted it afterwards. I spent the next day inpenance reading an account of de Montford’s campaign.It is easy enough to sympathise with the destructive desires of revolutionar-ies; the di?culty in most cases is to agree that they are likely to do any good.What I really dislike about them are their doctrinaire ideas and their spirit ofintolerance. The religious idea in Communism, which is the reason for itssuccess, (the assurance it gives of Time that is God, being on ones side) willlead in the end perhaps to a sort of Mohammedan creed of brotherhood& stagnation. The energy and combativeness of Christian nations comes, Isuspect, from the doctrine of sin, particularly Original Sin and the kind ofstruggle that must go on for redemption (or for money). But for Augustine’sManichaeanism we should have been a more docile but less interesting lot. Iam opposed to this Communist religion, because I think that Socialism shd bea matter of administration only. Any religious ideas that get attached to it willbe impoverishing, unless of course they are treated lightly, as the Romanstreated the worship of Augustus or the Chinese treated Confucianism. Butthat of course may [not] be the case. – Anyhow since one has in the end toaccept or reject these things en bloc, I shall support Communism when I seeit is winning – and I shall always support it against Fascism.Out here every day brings news of the disintegration of the Popular Front.Moderate Socialists, Revolutionary Socialists and Syndicalists are all at logger-heads. Disorders go on increasing and I think that the most likely end isdictatorship. I incline to think that the best thing for the country would be aDictatorship of the moderate left (present government with Socialists) for,say, ten years. I understand that the agricultural unemployment cannot belater years of telegraph house 429solved until large areas at present unirrigated have been made irrigateable.Dams have been begun, but many more are wanted and ?fteen years mustelapse till they are ready. The plan is for the Govt to control investments &direct them upon these dams, repaying the lenders by a mortgage on the newirrigated land.The weather is delicious now and every moment of life is a pleasure.Besides health and weather – which is Nature’s health – very little matters. Itwould be nice if you rented a house out here & brought out some of yourbooks. If everything in Spain is uncertain – what about the rest of Europe?With love from us both to you & Peterever yrsGerald BrenanPublic opinion in England seems alarmingly warlike. I favour the droppingof sanctions and conclusion of a Mediterranean pact, which would be a checkto Mussolini. But then we must be ready to go to war if he takes a Greek island.In England the importance of Austria’s not going Nazi is always under-estimated. The Times refused to look at Central Europe at all. The English arepriggish about everything beyond Berlin – Vienna – Venice. I suspect that youthink as I do.From Mrs Gerald BrenanBell CourtAldbourne, Marlborough[Nov. 1938]My dear BertieI thought of you very much in those really horrible days – which musthave been dreadful to you going further & further away from your childrenand leaving them behind in such a world. It is the kind of thing you mightdream of in an evil nightmare – but it was one of those modern nightmaresin which you are still awake.I share your di?culties. I am and always shall be a paci?st. But sometimesthey seem to ‘cry Peace Peace when there is no peace’. What a world we live in.Power is having wonderful reviews, I see, and is a best seller. I am so glad. Ihope to read it soon.We have had an Anarchist from Holland staying with us, the Secretary ofthe ???. He was a charming & very intelligent man, & had been a good deal inSpain with the ???.He was a great admirer of yours. He said that he had recently written anarticle on Anarchism for an Encyclopedia. In the Bibliography at the end heincluded ‘All the works of Bertrand Russell’ because, he explains, though theyare not actually Anarchist they have ‘the tendency’ as old Anarchists say.the autobiography of bertrand russell 430I was pleased – for whatever Anarchist parties are in practice ‘the ten-dency’ I’m sure is right. We went to Savernake Forest one day. The autumnleaves were beginning to fall but the day was warm & bright. I wished for you& Peter & John & Kate. Perhaps we will walk there again another day.I hope you & Peter are as happy as it is possible to be so far from home& in such days.With love to you bothYours everGamelBell CourtAldbourne, Marlborough[Winter 1938–9]My dear BertieI was so glad to get your letter and to think that you will be coming homenow before so very long and we shall see you again.Yes, we must somehow meet more often. We must have picnics inSavernake Forest – and ?nd some charming place to come together half waybetween Kidlington and Aldbourne. Gerald and I are going to take to bicyclesthis summer, so we can meet anywhere.I am sure America is very di?cult to be in now. I was afraid you and Peterwould ?nd it trying in many ways – the tremendous lionising must be veryexhausting and very tiresome in the end however well they mean.Longmans Green are going to bring out my book some time in thelate spring I think. I am glad, for I think in a small way it is a useful book.It is such a painful picture of the war state of mind. It is to be calledDeath’s Other Kingdom, from T. S. Eliot’s line ‘Is it like this in Death’s otherkingdom?’Gerald and I have both read Power with great interest and great admiration.It has made a great impression, I gather, not only from the reviews, but fromthe fact that almost every intelligent person I meet happens somehow insome connection to mention it.I can understand how you long to be in England. And I am so glad that youwill soon be coming home.With much love to you all,YoursGamelI am delighted to learn the real provenance of my name – but I am not surehow I feel about its nearness to Camel.later years of telegraph house 431From Mrs Bernard BerensonThe Mud HouseFriday’s Hill, HaslemereJuly 28, 1936My dear BertieMight I motor over & call upon you and your wife on Thursday or Fridayof this week, or sometime next week?I’ve been very ill, and one of the results of illness is to make me understandwhat things have been precious in my life, and you were one of the mostprecious. I do not want to die without seeing you again & thanking you for somany things.Yours a?ectionatelyMary BerensonTo and from Lion FitzpatrickTelegraph HouseHarting, Peters?eld21.12.36Dear LionIt was very disappointing that I was ill just when we were coming to you –it was gastric ?u, brief but incapacitating. We look forward to seeing youtowards the end of January.As Alys is going to stay with you, I wonder whether you could say somelittle word of a friendly sort from me. I am the more anxious for this becauseMrs Berenson said a number of very critical things about Alys, to which Ilistened in stony silence; & I dare say she went away saying I had said them. Idon’t want to make mischief, so that there would be no point in mentioningMrs Berenson to Alys; but I should be sorry if Alys thought that I said or feltunfriendly things about her.YoursB RThe Warden’s LodgingsAll Souls College, OxfordDec. 28. 36Dear BertieAll right. I’ll try to do that. But it isn’t easy to inform Alys about you. Shelikes to think she knows everything about you. At bottom she is intenselyinterested in you but she still seems raw even after all these years. I expect shecares quite a lot about you still. People are queer. If they are without humourthey either dry up or get rather rancid. I feel that to be able to regard yourselfas somewhat of a joke is the highest virtue.the autobiography of bertrand russell 432I’ll ask (?) [illegible word] over when Alys & Grace Worthington and afterthem the Wells go – It will be in Feb. I am afraid unless I could come inbetween visits. But I generally have to go to bed then – oh Lord how unadapt-able the English are and how unimpressionable the ?.?. (?) [illegible word].These people here are Scottish & Ulster. Much more ?exible breed.I have a rather miserable spot in my sub-conscious about your book onphilosophy. I do wish you could get it out of you before you die – I think itwould be important! – after all that is what you ought to be doing – not potboilers. Bill Adams (the son of the Warden here) has been listening to yousomewhere on physics and says your brain is the clearest in England – (Is thisgreat praise in a country where brains are nearly all muddled and proudof it sir?)My regards to Lady Russell – I hope she is well – I write to her later –LionLion Fitzpatrick, the writer of the preceding letter, was a close friend ofAlys’s and later also of mine. ‘Lion’ was a nickname given to her on accountof her mane of black hair. Her father had been a Belfast business man, who,owing to drink, had ?rst gone bankrupt and then died. She came to Englandpenniless, and was employed by Lady Henry Somerset on philanthropic workin Somerstown (St Pancras). I met her ?rst on June 10, 1894, at a Temperance
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