To George Sturgis
Hotel Bristol
Rome. March 29, 1936
I see the lien that the government has upon the royalties of a person in my position. I am—or my publishers are—protected by an American copyright: but for that, anybody might pirate my books and pocket the profits (when there are any). The privilege of cashing vast sums in the case of a best-seller must therefore be acknowledged with thanks and with an adequate contribution for poor dear Uncle Sam in his always temporary difficulties.
From The Letters of George Santayana: Book Five, 1933-1936. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.
Location of manuscript: The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA