Personality 
We are stunned by the extraordinary scope of activities in the 
most varied fields of theory and policy. What has kept all 
these activities together? The basic inspiration of Kalecki's 
work was his socialist conviction: his revulsion against the 
iniquities and brutalities of the existing capitalist 
society and his wish for a better system. For him this 
wish did not contradict work for reforms, such as full 
employment, if they improved the daily life of workers 
and at the same time strengthened their backbone. Personally 
he led a modest life. He did not want to own anything, not 
even books. He certainly showed no wish to ingratiate himself 
with any of the powers that be. 
A very powerful personality behind an unassuming appearance, 
he was a very kind and sympathetic man and at the same time 
quite uncompromising when his convictions were involved. 
Witness to this were the clashes with personalities and 
institutions which sometimes marked stations in his life. 
In daily life he was most sociable, open to contacts and 
interested in people, an indefatigable talker whose brain never 
ceased to process the stream of daily events. The results of 
his astounding political analyses came across through his 
powerful voice like the clutter of a machine gun. His comments 
and predictions were often felt to be pessimistic but they