To Daniel MacGhie Cory
Rome. May 27, 1950
“Atoms of Thought” has reached me. It is a selection of “Left” utterances of mine for propaganda of anticlericalism. But, although I am rather ashamed of being compared, to my honour, with Tom Paine, I think it shows an essential stage in clearing up one’s mind. Only it is a by-gone stage for those in the van, and Cardiff and Runes are retardataires. I am going to write to Cardiff in as friendly and conciliatory a spirit as possible, because he has done the work well in many respects, and his bias is so obvious to anyone who has a fair notion of my philosophy as a whole, that he ought to be passed over with a smile.
One thing that surprised and pleased me is that he begins with three or four pages from Lucifer, of all things, and later quotes other verses. They are not bad of their kind, and do speak for my real feelings when younger.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Eight, 1948-1952. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008.
Location of manuscript: Butler Library, Columbia University, New York NY