Letter typewritten on stationery blind-stamped with Albert Einstein's address and bearing his personal signature. Addressed to the Australian pathologist, Dr. Alton R. Chapple. Princeton, New Jersey, USA. February 23, 1954. English.
In early 1949, in the ominous shadow of the Soviet-American nuclear arms race, the Australian pathologist, Dr. Alton R. Chapple – a member of the Quaker Religious Society of Friends – turned to Albert Einstein with a passionate entreaty to hear "a few words of leadership and hope" from the renowned pacifist (see: Einstein on Peace, p. 510). This particular appeal on Chapple's part would signify the beginning of a lively correspondence between the two. Einstein remained steadfast in his insistence on forceful, aggressive action against Nazi Germany, and was, from a scientific standpoint, a founding father of the American nuclear arms program. Nevertheless, immediately following the Second World War, he began to once again advance, just as vociferously, the pacifistic agenda he had subscribed to most of his life, and quickly became one of the world's leading proponents of nuclear disarmament.
In the present, brief letter, written in 1954, Einstein expresses his unequivocal admiration for the efforts of the members of the "Society of Friends" (the Quakers): "I consider the Society of Friends the religious community which has the highest moral standards. As far as I know they have never made evil compromises and are always guided by their conscience. In international life, especially, their influence seems to me very beneficial and effective."
At the end of the letter, Einstein addresses the issue of a seeming contradiction that Chapple points to in one of his previous letters (dated February 18, 1949; see Kedem Auction No. 86, Part I, Lot 106). This contradiction ostensibly appears between Einstein's concluding statement in the letter, that "honesty and courage of the individual to stand up for his convictions on every occasion is the only essential thing, " and the third paragraph of the letter, where Einstein writes that lower-ranked professionals who are dependent on the weapons industry for their livelihood "cannot be expected to refuse employment offered them by the state or private industry, even if they were able to clearly recognize that their work will lead to disaster on a world-wide scale." In the present letter, Einstein insists there is no contradiction between these two statements: "The rules applying to a pioneering moral elite can not be expected to be followed by the rank and file."
The present letter is cited by Otto Nathan and Heinz Norden, eds., "Einstein on Peace, " Schocken Books, New York, 1968, p. 511.

[1] f., 28 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Fold lines and creases. Minute tear to left edge

The Protestant Christian community of the "Religious Society of Friends" – more commonly known as the Quakers – was originally founded in England in the 17th century. From there it spread to numerous countries, and today numbers more than 300,000 members worldwide. The community espouses an unmediated connection between the believer and the Creator, and supports the idea of full equality among all its faithful. The earliest Quakers adopted a radically pacifistic worldview. They viewed war as a material creation with no place in the Heavenly scheme, and thus something to be avoided at all cost. This philosophy gave rise to the humanitarian assistance projects with which the Quakers would become affiliated. It also led to the Quakers' collective willingness to pay a heavy price for their pacifistic beliefs and their utter refusal to participate in any form of warfare.
Albert Einstein never ceased to express his admiration for the Quakers. The pacifism of their members, their rejection of the kind of nationalism he personally opposed all his life, and the concept of the "inviolability of life" they so religiously adhered to – all these qualities resonated profoundly and coincided harmoniously with his own personal beliefs, even though the actual sources of Einstein's belief system and that of the Quakers were entirely disparate; whereas the Quaker philosophy derived from their theology and religious faith, Einstein's worldview was strictly secular. Albert Einstein was forced to relinquish his steadfast and radical pacifism the moment the Nazis gained power in Germany; the rise of fascism in the West convinced him to modify his stance – if only temporarily – and lend his unconditional support to the armed struggle of the Allies in the Second World War.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955), among the most influential of physicists of the 20th century and of all time, gave rise to the theory of relativity and helped lay the foundations for the theory of quantum mechanics. Nobel Laureate in Physics. Born to a Jewish family in Ulm in southern Germany, studied in Switzerland, and served as professor at a number of different universities. In addition to his distinguished scientific accomplishments, Einstein was deeply involved in social and political activism; when the Nazis came power in Germany in 1933, Einstein chose to renounce his German citizenship and settle in the United States – with his second wife, Elsa Einstein (1876-1936) – where he was offered a position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University in New Jersey. Albert Einstein persisted in his political activism, and utilized multiple channels to advance his antiwar agenda, almost till his death. He passed away at Princeton on April 18, 1955.