The Letters of William James, Vol. 2James, William
Philosophy
The Letters of William James, Vol. 2
James, William
Intellectuals -- United States; James, William, 1842-1910; Philosophers -- United States; Psychologists -- United States
As things are _now_, I get on well enough, for the bath business
(especially the "bath-chair") carries one through a good deal of the
day. The great Schott has positively forbidden me to go to England as I
did last year; so, early in October, our faces will be turned towards
Italy, and by Nov. 1 we shall, I hope, be ensconced in a _pension_ close
to the Pincian Garden in Rome, to see how long _that_ resource will
last. I confess I am in the mood of it, and that there is a suggestion
of more richness about the name of Rome than about that of Rye, which,
until Schott's veto, was the plan. How the Gifford lectures will fare,
remains to be seen. I have felt strong movings towards home this
fall, but reflection says: "Stay another winter," and I confess that now
that October is approaching, it feels like the home-stretch and as if
the time were getting short and the limbs of "next summer" in America
burning through the veil which seems to hide them in the shape of the
second European winter months. Who knows? perhaps I may be spry and
active by that time! I have still one untried card up my sleeve, that
may work wonders. All I can say of this third course of baths is that so
far it seems to be doing me no harm. That it will do me any substantial
good, after the previous experiences, seems decidedly doubtful. But one
must suffer some inconvenience to please the doctors! Just as in most
women there is a wife that craves to suffer and submit and be bullied,
so in most men there is a _patient_ that needs to have a doctor and obey
his orders, whether they be believed in or not....
Don't take the Malwida book[32] too seriously. I sent it _faute de
mieux_. I don't think I ever told you how much I enjoyed hearing the
Lesley volume[33] read aloud by Alice. We were just in the exactly right
condition for enjoying that breath of old New England. Good-bye, dearest
Fanny. Give my love to your mother, Mary, J. J. P., and all your circle.
_Leb' wohl_ yourself, and believe me, your ever affectionate,
W. J.
_To Josiah Royce._
NAUHEIM, _Sept. 26, 1900_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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