Monday, March 9:
Today, after an interruption of several days, R. wanted to get down to his score again, but then Herr Feustel arrives with Herr Riederer, the latter showing not the slightest trace of any willingness to help in providing new hotels. Quite by chance a hotel owner, Herr Albert from Mannheim, arrives in the afternoon and puts forward some plans; R. takes him to see Feustel, but brings home little that is encouraging or edifying: friend Feustel declares that no corporation could be formed here to promote such things - the town is too poor. On the other hand, one cannot expect strangers to bring their capital here if the town is unwilling to invest in it.
Gloomy evening; R. did in fact manage by sheer will power to complete a page of his score, but he is thoroughly depressed by the great difficulties of his task, and on top of that Richter, the only one who could help him, is now a theater director! “It’s as if I wanted to become the minister of trade!” R. says.
Schopenhauer’s annotations to the Parerga give R. great pleasure “at a time when philosophy comes out of apothecaries and clinics.” He also says, “I can’t help feeling sorry for our European culture, which is based on a monotheistic belief.”