Carl Jung: I am not particularly fond of the famous potpourri: Psychology-Art Education.

Anonymous

Dear Mrs. N., 31 August 1945

Above all I must ask your pardon for the considerable delay of my answer to your letter of March '45.

The moment peace came a real avalanche of letters descended upon me.

Before that I was safely secluded from contact with the world and I was spared many hundreds of letters.

Now I am in the frying pan, particularly so since my 70th birthday, when the flood of letters became even worse.

Ever since my illness I can never get through with my correspondence and I suffer from a chronic bad conscience.

Now you know under what conditions I'm writing to you.

I must thank you for kindly sending me Read's book about Education and Art.

Unfortunately I'm unable to share your enthusiasm.

I am not particularly fond of the famous potpourri: Psychology-Art Education.

Each thing in itself is quite nice, but together it becomes an awful sauce.

I'm sorry, I'm too critical, but I cannot overcome this idiosyncrasy.

I'm glad to know that you managed to get through this terrible war without serious mishap.

I was glad of the news about people in England.

The insular feeling we developed in Switzerland during the war is decidedly persistent.

We had the feeling as if we were on an island of reason and mental balance and outside there was nonsense.

It simplified the world considerably.

Of course we cannot maintain such an attitude forever, but for the time being it is not yet far from being right.

We got the necessary shock from the atomic bomb, yet cannot do anything about it.

I heard several people saying: Well it would be quite right if they would blow the earth and everything upon it down to hell forever!

Hoping you are always in good health,

I remain,

Yours sincerely,

C.G. Jung ~Carl Jung, Letters Vol. I, Pages 377-378