Saturday, September 19, 2009

Quote of the day

This quote is attributed, on the Internet, to Sydney Smith, an English writer (1771-1845):
"Correspondences are like small clothes before the invention of suspenders; it is impossible to keep them up."
Of course, I wouldn't say correspondences are "impossible" to keep up, but it does take some work. In this project, I have found that it is easier to write a letter to a stranger, someone I've never written to before, such as the many letter writers on the the penpal sites, than it is to write to a friend or even an established penpal.

With my friends, I want to say something important, something meaningful, so I put off writing those letters until I have time to devote to the art of crafting a letter. With new penpals, or even just fellow snail mailers who may never become penpals, the letters are often simple letters of introduction, which are fairly easy to write.

However, I do believe, it is worth the effort to keep up the correspondences. Good friends are so important.

3 comments:

phonelady said...

Oh yes if it were not for correspondance I would probably loose my mind . and yes you can quote me on that LOL !!!

The Missive Maven said...

This is SO true. I can write a quick intro letter (or a postcrossing card, or a response to a first blog reader letter) in 15 or 20 minutes, but I need larger chunks of time to respond to a proper, continuing letter in an exchange. And I put them off until I can give them the time they deserve... it gets tough. Right now I'm at the point of deciding it's okay to start a letter and put it aside until I can finish it, though that's a slippery slope with me!

PostMuse said...

Oh my goodness...I thought I was an oddball because I find it much harder to write to family and friends, precisely for the same reason... I want to make sure I have just the right words and time to really focus on my letter. And then I'm so very late getting the mail off. But... there is a saying about a letter not being a letter until it has a response, so I do respond. It just takes me a while.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...