"Of course I took a sympathetic part in all this and did my share by scolding Max almost unremittantly from morning till night. He is a very bright and attractive boy, but easy going."
(Exactly four years later Nelka married the "easy going boy.")
Kovno 1914.
"I would give anything to spend a few hours with you and see how you are and have a nice talk. You don't know how much I realize what a rock you are of effective support and comprehension."
(Nelka never again saw her aunt who died in 1916 while Nelka was at the front.)
Kovno 1914.
"I ought never to move from Cazenovia if I had any character. I shall have learned a lot of things when I die—and all for what?"
Kovno 1914.
"I suppose I shall die a hopeless procrastinator but if I make small progress I also have no peace. It torments me dreadfully to have things undone. I wish I had passed beyond this world, in my soul."
Kovno 1914.