Several years later Einstein was appointed professor of the Academy of Sciences with the right of lecturing at the University of Berlin. This brought my personal wish within reach. Trusting to good fortune, I set about materializing it. In conjunction with a colleague I wrote him a letter asking him to honour with his presence one of the informal evenings instituted by our Literary Society at the Hôtel Bristol. Here he was my neighbour at table, and chatted with me for some hours. Nowadays his appearance is known to every one through the innumerable photos which have appeared in the papers. At that time I had never seen his countenance before, and I became absorbed in studying his features, which struck me as being those of a kindly, artistically inclined, being, in nowise suggesting a professor. He seemed vivacious and unrestrained in conversation, and, in response to our request, willingly touched upon his own subject as far as the place and occasion allowed, exemplifying Horace's saying, "Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci, tironem delectando pariterque monendo." It was certainly most delightful. Yet at moments I was reminded of a male sphinx, suggested by his highly expressive enigmatic forehead. Even now, after a warm acquaintanceship stretching over years, I cannot shake off this impression. It often overcomes me in the midst of a pleasant conversation interspersed with jests whilst enjoying a cigar after tea; I suddenly feel the mysterious sway of a subtle intellect which captivates and yet baffles the mind. At that time, early in 1916, only a few members of the Literary Society divined who it was that was enjoying their hospitality. In the eyes of Berlin, Einstein's star was beginning its upward course, but was still too near the horizon to be visible generally. My own vision, sharpened by the French lecture and by a friend who was a physicist, anticipated events, and already saw Einstein's star at its zenith, although I was not even aware at that time that Poincaré had in the meantime overcome his doubts and had fully recognized the lasting importance of Einstein's researches. I had the instinctive feeling that I was sitting next to a Galilei. The fanfares sounded in the following years as a sign of appreciation by his contemporaries were only a fuller instrumentation of the music of destiny which had vibrated in my ears ever since that time.