To Charles Augustus Strong
Ávila, Spain. April 24, 1921
The six weeks I have just spent in Madrid have given me a very good impression of the place. It has the charms of an agreeable and affectionate woman who is not beautiful; my friend Mercedes made me feel at home at once; it was like living in the bosom of one’s own family, with somewhat greater freedom to the good. I should be quite content to spend most of the remainder of my life there, if circumstances made it advisable. This is just the conviction, one way or another, which I wished to acquire in my experimental visit this winter: so that I am quite happy about the result, especially as it is favourable, and leaves this pleasant possibility open for me in the future.
Your decision to build at Fiesole is quite exciting. I hope you will not be disappointed in the architect or in the time he takes to finish the house. I shall be most interested in hearing about it, and seeing the plans if you have them. Florence and its neighbourhood are delightful, perhaps the most delightful place where a pensive stranger could pitch his tent; but just for that reason if you live there you will be swallowed up in the Anglo-American colony, formed by the other pensive strangers who have come to the same conclusion as yourself. The moral climate, in consequence, is not so delightful as the landscape. That is why I should hardly choose Florence to live in permanently; but you may not feel the force of this objection, and in any case, it is a place anyone across would be glad to visit often.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Three, 1921-1927. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2002.
Location of manuscript: Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow NY.