To Daniel MacGhie Cory
Hotel Bristol
Rome. March 13, 1934
Your letter of a fortnight ago, in which you said that Oliver was “getting under your skin”, gave me a good deal of pleasure and encouragement, because in the novel I haven’t the sort of conviction and assurance that supports me in writing about philosophy, even if no one seems to take notice; and it is easier to go ahead if there are indications that one’s labour may not be all wasted.
[T.S.] Eliot is honest and brave, but limited.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Five, 1933-1936. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.
Location of manuscript: Butler Library, Columbia University, New York NY