<p><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(156, 0, 0);">EINSTEIN, ALBERT</span> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">(Theoretical physicist and Noble Prize winner, 1879-1955).</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Typed Letter Signed, written in English to Alton R. Chapple <span style="color: rgb(156, 0, 0);">ON THE NECESSITY FOR MORAL COURAGE.</span></span></p> <p><br /></p> <p> Einstein here observes that “power is in the hands of power-loving persons who know very little restrictions when it comes to the realization of ambitious goals, ” stating that this is true of the dictatorial as well as the democratic system, answering negatively the question whether self-restraint on the part of 'productive thinkers and explorers' might not prevent further development of means of mass destruction, for three main reasons, namely:</p> <p><br /></p> <p> “1): The already generally known means of destruction are effective enough to bring about total destruction. </p> <p><br /></p> <p>2): People really devoted to the progress of knowledge concerning the physical world like Faraday or Rutherford have never worked for practical goals, let alone military goals. And nobody could know in advance what kind of application might be developed on the basis of their discoveries. </p> <p><br /></p> <p>3): People of technical skill are so numerous and so dependent economically that they cannot be expected to refuse employment offered them by the state or private industry, even if they were able to clearly recognize that their work will lead to disaster on a world-wide scale…” </p> <p><br /></p> <p>Einstein concludes “Hope can only be based only in the intellectual and moral independence of a sufficient number of people the world over who can resist all the nefarious influences brought to bear upon them… Honesty and courage of the individual to stand up for his convictions on every occasion is the only essential thing.”</p> <p><br /></p> <p><span style="font-style: italic;">One page, blind-stamped with Einstein's address. 4to.</span></p> <p><br /></p> <p>Princeton, NJ. 18th February, 1949.</p> <p><br /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(156, 0, 0);">AN IMPORTANT TIMELESS LETTER</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(156, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Through the duration of the Second World War, Albert Einstein remained steadfast in his insistence on forceful, aggressive action against Nazi Germany. Immediately after the conclusion of the war and once the full extent of the horror caused by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan was revealed, he once again advanced, just as vociferously, the pacifist agenda he had subscribed to through most of his life, and quickly became one of the world's leading proponents of nuclear disarmament.</p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the ominous shadow of the Soviet-American nuclear arms race, and with the terrifying specter of nuclear holocaust rendered more palpable than ever, the Australian pathologist Dr. Alton R. Chapple (1907-99) turned to Einstein with a passionate entreaty to hear words of leadership and hope from the renowned scientist.</p> <p><br /></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In response, with the present letter, Einstein offered a decidedly pessimistic analysis regarding the state of politics and international relations. Instead, hope can only lie with the individual of good conscience. See Otto Nathan &amp; Heinz Norden (Eds.) Einstein on Peace (1960) pp. 510-11.</p>