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452 is covered twice, in opposite directions. No one is so poor that he must pay his friend so shabby a compliment.

And if you think twice before speaking, think five times before writing. Don’t write anything that you may have to explain or that you are likely to regret. The letter that a writer asks to have burned is usually the one that is carefully preserved. And remarks that are jokes in talk, when the merry eye and smiling lips warm them, are often wounding on cold paper. Don’t try to do line writing. Write simply and sincerely as you would talk, say only what you mean, but be sure never to put anything ill-humored or discourteous on paper. And each letter should be answered in kind—a formal letter formally, a friendship letter cordially. This is the only way in which you can treat the friends who are far away from you as courteously as you do those who are near. Christmas letters, notes and cards are really long distance calls.

Letters of introduction and messages carried by friends should not be sealed. Seal all other letters securely, but do not use wax unless you are expert in its use. In addressing a letter put the full name on one line, the street number and the street on the line below and the city and abbreviated state on the third line. For a small place, the town, county and state are the proper order. Have them all compactly arranged, on the lower half of the envelope, neither crowded nor sprawled. On a registered or special delivery letter or a package, the sender’s name and address should be plainly written in the upper left-hand corner. A letter meant for a particular person, in a business office, where it may be opened in the routine work of a clerk, should be marked "Personal" in the lower left-hand corner. Of course, no one opens any one’s private letter in a family.

Put the stamp. in the upper right-hand corner, where it is the most convenient for the mail clerk to cancel. And set the stamp right side up. In England, it is thought to be an act of gross disrespect to turn the king’s head upside down. We should feel the same way about Washington, Lincoln and other national heroes whose heads appear, beautifully engraved on our stamps. Any act, however small—as the putting on of a stamp—that is careless or thoughtless or slovenly or undignified, is bad manners.