When this was still the mode to forward letters, the following sentence was just as true as today:

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”

This quote or very close versions thereof have been attributed to various authors over the years, Blaise Pascal, Mark Twain, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Johann Wolfgan von Goethe, Jonathan Swift, Heinrich von Kleist, and probably some others.

Axel Haitzer, a modern day recruiting and training expert, explained the sentiment thus:

“What hasn’t been thought completely through requires a lot of words.”

“Nicht zu Ende Gedachtes beansprucht viele Wörter.”

But letter writing can also be something quite different. Many years ago I took a class in calligraphy which basically is writing letters beautifully. I have only a few sheets still of what I did then. One of my first attempts:

And one with a sentiment I often expressed, although seldom as beautifully:

Wednesday Quotes: Letter Writing

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