Page:When You Write a Letter (1922).pdf/174

 The opportunities for writing such letters are infinite and are limited only by one's time and inclination. If the tenor at church on Sunday morning sings an unusually appealing solo, if the minister's sermon goes home more directly than ordinarily, it is worth while to write them to that effect. When our friends have prospered, or accomplished something worth while, or have suffered reverses or experienced sorrow, it is quite fitting that we should recognize these facts. Joy and sorrow, success or failure, progress or decline—we share all of these things with our friends. Our joys are increased or our sorrows lessened as we recognize the fact that our friends know of them and care. We can often send a letter when it would be impossible or undesirable for us to say what we have in mind, and the letter is more permanent in its effects than the spoken words which we might utter. The sad truth is that most of us pat ourselves approvingly upon the back when we are discriminating enough to discover a weakness in what we have seen or heard. When there is something which can be criticized adversely or found fault with we jump at