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THE UNIVERSITY COURSES AT DAVOS 55
with intelligence and a wise moderation, which is based on a
grave need, though it may not be a need that is i=ediately
obvious to everyone. Many a young man goes to this valley with
his hopes fixed on the healing power of its sunny mountains and
regains his bodily health. But thus withdrawn for long periods
from the will-hardening discipline of normal work and a prey
to morbid reflection on his physical condition, he easily loses
his mental resilience, the sense of being able to hold his own
in the struggle for existence. He becomes a sort of hot-house
plant and, when his body is cured, often finds it difficult to get
back to normal life. This is in particular true for university
students. Interruption of intellectual training in the formative
period of youth is very apt to leave a gap which can hardly be
filled later.
Yet, as a general rule, intellectual work in moderation, so
far from retarding cure, indirectly helps it forward, just as moderate
physical work will. It is with this realization that the university
courses are being instituted for the purpose not merely
of preparing these young people for a profession but of stimulating
them to intellectual activity as such. They are to provide
work, training, and hygiene in the sphere of the mind.
Let us not forget that this enterprise is admirably suited to
establish relations between individuals of different nationalities,
relations which help to strengthen the idea of a European community.
The effects of the new institution in this direction are
likely to be all the more advantageous as a result of the fact
that the circumstances of its birth rule out every sort of political
purpose. The best way to serve the cause of internationalism is
by cooperating in some life-giving work.
For all these reasons I rejoice that through the energy and
intelligence of the founders, the university courses at Davos have
already attained such a measure of success that the enterprise
has outgrown the troubles of infancy. May it prosper, enriching
the inner lives of numbers of valuable human beings and rescuing
many from the poverty of sanatorium life.