Romain Rolland: The Man and His Work

BY STEFAN ZWEIG
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT BY EDEN and CEDAR PAUL
NEW YORK THOMAS SELTZER 1921
Copyright, 1921, by THOMAS SELTZER, Inc. All rights reserved PRINTED IN U. S. A.
Not merely do I describe the work of a great European. Above all do I pay tribute to a personality, that of one who for me and for many others has loomed as the most impressive moral phenomenon of our age. Modelled upon his own biographies of classical figures, endeavouring to portray the greatness of an artist while never losing sight of the man or forgetting his influence upon the world of moral endeavour, conceived in this spirit, my book is likewise inspired with a sense of personal gratitude, in that, amid these days forlorn, it has been vouchsafed to me to know the miracle of so radiant an existence.
IN COMMEMORATION
of this uniqueness, I dedicate the book to those few who, in the hour of fiery trial, remained faithful to
ROMAIN ROLLAND AND TO OUR BELOVED HOME OF EUROPE
The surge of the Heart's energies would not break in a mist of foam, nor be subtilized into Spirit, did not the rock of Fate, from the beginning of days, stand ever silent in the way.
Hölderlin.