To Horace Meyer Kallen
C/o Brown Shipley & Co 123, Pall Mall, London
Rome. May 6, 1930
Please thank the authorities of the New School for their renewed invitation, but you know very well the reasons that make it impossible for me to accept it: 66 years on my back, the climate and society of New York, my work already planned, and the short time left in which to execute it. The fuss which you predict would be made about me is a further reason: my reputation for wisdom and for good temper (if it exists) is much safer in my absence.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Four, 1928–1932. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.
Location of manuscript: American Jewish Archives, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati OH