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.

What are letters to you?

According to the online world of quotes, American journalist Shana Alexander (1925-2005) once said:

Letters are expectation packaged in an envelope.

What do letters mean to you? Share a thought or two, and then go write a letter!

Letter-writing Quote

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart. — Phyllis Theroux

Quote of the Week

I hold that the parentheses are by far the most important parts of a non-business letter.

~D.H. Lawrence

I use lots of parentheses when I write letters, and I often use ellipses (...), too.

Prompt replies

Is there a letter awaiting your reply? Read what William Shenstone, an 18th Century English poet, had to say about answering letters you have received:

The best time to frame an answer to the letters of a friend, is the moment you receive them. Then the warmth of friendship, and the intelligence received, most forcibly cooperate.

~William Shenstone

KISS - Keep It Simple Sweetie

Quote of the day:

The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.

-- Walt Whitman

Just a note that says you're thinking about someone. That'll do it. You don't have to be a poet, you just have to write a line or two and put it in the mail. You'll make someone's day!

Quote of the day

Letters are useful as a means of expressing the ideal self. . . . In letters we can reform without practice, beg without humiliation, snip and shape embarrassing experiences to the measure of our own desires. . . .

-- Elizabeth Hardwick
American writer (1916-2007)

Connections

Isn't this quote by Lord Byron (British poet, 1788-1824) so true? It seems to me that even if a person is alone when writing a letter, you don't feel lonely. Rather, you tend to feel connected to the person you're writing to, almost as if they are there with you. Now, later, after the letter has been dropped into the mailbox, and you're waiting for a reply that might not come for days or weeks, well, then, you might feel a little lonely. But when you are sitting there with pen in hand and paper before you, distance and time seem to melt away and you are in the presence of a friend.

Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company.

- Lord Byron

Quote of the Week

Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.

- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
German author (1749-1832)


Celebrate Card and Letter Writing Month by sending a letter today!

Letter-writing Quote of the Week

Sir, more than kisses, letters mingle souls. For, thus friends absent speak.

- John Donne

Letter-writing quote of the week

What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can't reread a phone call.

~Liz Carpenter,
Texan, writer, feminist