'The terms of physics ... span the entire net of causality'.

Vero has sent news of the death of Paul Winteler, and Einstein expresses relief that the end was so easy for his brother-in-law. He explains the circumstances around an outstanding loan to Winteler and his sister Maja: he had advanced the money in 1924, at a moment when they were financially embarrassed, using 'the first money I had saved in my life'. It was really intended as a gift, but 'I wanted to use the opportunity to prevent the two of them from any future reckless business dealings': there was never any real intention to recover the money; Vero is therefore to destroy the related paperwork. As for Winteler's other papers: 'I don't want to have back the letters written by myself, as I too will soon be finished with my life. Look at them and do with them what you feel is right ... I had no idea that Maja was intending to write something biographical about me. If so, it was probably best that it remained just an intention'. Vero can also keep the letters by Romain Rolland.

Einstein concludes with a comparison between language and the terms of physics: 'Words like "I" grew out of a desire to communicate everyday experiences'; but it seems too great a step to attribute to them 'ontological meaning'. 'With the terms of physics it is in principle no different. They are however of such a type that one can imagine that they span the entire net of causality making up "reality". It is a belief, which can never become a "certainty"'.