[Rarebooks] FS: Fine Letter by George Santayana: "We are being punished for the sins of our fathers"

[Charles Agvent]

SANTAYANA, George. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED (ALS). Rome, 17 June 1951. 
AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED as "G. Santayana" by this Spanish-born American 
poet and philosopher who is thought to be the originator of the oft-used 
expression: "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it." That 
sentence is hinted at in this letter to Mr. Robertson. In full: "It is a 
pleasure, and not a common one, to hear a word of appreciation from the 
midst of the active and public world, not tinged by any literary or 
academic prejudice; and I am happy to know that you have found 
refreshment in the atmosphere of my writings. The present, without long 
perspectives into the past or the future, presses very hard on our 
generation: more on yours, I should say, than on mine, because in the 
1890's, when I reached my moral majority, there was still at least in 
Europe, a somewhat harmonious civilization, which is impossible today. 
We are being punished for the sins of our fathers." A remarkable letter 
written near the conclusion of his long and productive life. Vertical 
fold down center from mailing, still Fine. 		$1,500.00

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