World_war_1To Charles Augustus Strong
45 Chesterton Road
Cambridge, England. December 1, 1914

The war moves slowly, painfully, but is not agonizingly dangerous to the cause for which you and I can’t help caring—at least, not for the moment. The English are wonderful in their calm confidence and open-minded courage in receiving punishment; if I had half the stakes I should be terrified, for the danger is great and even if the chances are favourable danger, to me, is more intolerable than loss. Let us hope the sky will gradually clear and that the end will come before we expect it

From The Letters of George Santayana:  Book Two, 1910-1920.  Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001.
Location of manuscript: Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow NY