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Vienna, March 25, 1917
IX., Berggasse 19
Dear friend,
Your will be done. I will write to Frau G. and will ask her not to hide her decision behind considerations for Elma, but I can't vouch for the outcome. If she replies that you, in your present condition, should be spared the sum total of excitations which are inevitably attached to this step, then it is up to you to find further motives.
I would have liked to visit you; in other times there would have been no reservations. But now there is a ban on and impediment to travel. I know that I won't be able to get back on the same day. Rank held off on account of the same consideration. I might find the time around Easter, but the crowds will be monstrous, and on top of that, Oli hopes to spend this holiday with us, so that I will again be bound. Martin plans to arrive on the 28th for his leave.1 These are sadly limited times.
Your news about convalescence seems not unfavorable to me, only I think that you need an extension of your stay and your leave. Experience has shown that every subsequent week has a greater effect than the previous one.
Since the revolution2 I have seen every other interest shrivel up, and since one can't do anything in this one, one does nothing at all. The tensions are now too great. How intensely would one have experienced this splendid change if today the first consideration were not for peace.
Only the printing of the Lectures continues.3 If this tempo persists, the book could be ready at the end of May. I would then have enough, but the needs of the journals will certainly necessitate my publishing more.