Part 1 - The Institute Libraries - Institute for Advanced Study

and generalize." For, he said,
The philosophical intelligence m st be at work, tryin&
new patterns, trying, however vainly, to see things in
the large ... And this process should go on in the unlver-
sity more effectively than anywhere else, just because
the university i s the active center of fmestigation and
reflection, and because it brings together within its
framework every type a£ fundamental intelligence. 39
Flexner was nat sure he could persuade Mr. Bamberger and Mrs.
Fuld to make possible such an institution. But he hoped that he could
set up .any plan they would accept in such a way that capital other than
theirs xight be attracted to finance a really significant departure
fro= the pragmatic values ewrnon in most hrican institutions of higher
learning,
The challenge offered by their attentive interest in his pro-
posal was inspiring. Just as the Louisville schoolteacher of the turn
of the century gave little promise of the bold, imaginative and construc-
tive executive of the mfddle years, so now those qualities, strong as
they undoubtedly were under the stimulus of his recent defeats, and the
general protestations in self-justification from the universities, would
necessarily be subserved to accomplish a task requfrihg more patience
and even greater persuasions, if he succeeded Zn arousing again their
interest when they returned. For it seemed clear that the accord
reached in January was concededly subject to review should they return
safely.
Flexner was a man of great energy and strong convictions, ani-
mated by high ideals. Eagerly he sought an opportunity to start afresh
at sixty-two ~ 5th a new enterprise in a new setting, when rmst rrren are more
or less secure at the end of their careers in surroundings and with