---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A letter always seemed to me like…"
description: "\"A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.\" — Emily Dickinson"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/emily-dickinson-310_death_a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immort_2126986.jpg"
---

#  A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it…

![“A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.” quote by Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/emily-dickinson-310_death_a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immort_2126986.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/emily-dickinson-310_death_a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immort_2126986.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/emily-dickinson-310_death_a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immort_2126986.jpg)

> “A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.”

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Letters feel immortal, capturing the mind without a physical presence.

**In simple terms:** Letters preserve thoughts beyond physical limits.

Key Takeaway

Write letters to share ideas.

Themes

immortality mind writing loneliness

Mood

reflective poetic

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- personal communication
- historical records
- literary expression

Key Concepts

philosophy existentialism

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a letter timeless?
- How does writing affect memory?

A Different Perspective

Physical absence can limit emotional impact.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Immortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immortality/) [Letter writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letter-writing/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/)

## Related quotes

> [Friendship, like the immortality of the soul, is too good to be believed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/friendship-like-the-immortality-of-the-soul-is-too-good-to-be-believed/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [I would like immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/len-wein/i-would-like-immortality/)

[Len Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/len-wein/)

> [One of the paradoxes that makes the internet such a suggestive place is that, on the one hand, we perceive it as perpetually in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-heffernan/one-of-the-paradoxes-that-makes-the-internet-such-a-suggestive-place/)

[Virginia Heffernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-heffernan/)

> [A child is a reinvigorating experience. It almost does feel like immortality, but not in the way people think. It reminds us there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelsey-grammer/a-child-is-a-reinvigorating-experience-it-almost-does-feel-like/)

[Kelsey Grammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelsey-grammer/)

> [“Susie, what shall I do - there is'nt room enough; not half enough, to hold what I was going to say. Wont you tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/susie-what-shall-i-do-there-is-nt-room-enough-not-half-enough-to-hold/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [To possess is past the instant; we achieve the joy, immortality contented, were anomaly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/to-possess-is-past-the-instant-we-achieve-the-joy-immortality/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“The whole of Immortality Secreted by a star.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-whole-of-immortality-secreted-by-a-star/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [For love is immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/for-love-is-immortality/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [The only secret people keep is immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-only-secret-people-keep-is-immortality/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/unable-are-the-loved-to-die-for-love-is-immortality/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“Every body at all addicted to letter writing, without having much to say, which will include a large proportion of the female world at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/every-body-at-all-addicted-to-letter-writing-without-having-much-to/)

[Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/)

> [“All my life I have written letters - to our mother, our relatives, a wide circle of friends and acquaintance, to my husband, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delia-sherman/all-my-life-i-have-written-letters-to-our-mother-our-relatives-a-wide/)

[Delia Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delia-sherman/)

> [We lay aside letters never to read them again, and at last we destroy them out discretion, and so disappears the most immediate breath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-lay-aside-letters-never-to-read-them-again-and-at-last-we-destroy/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [“The nature of the epistolary genre was revealed to me: a form of writing devoted to another person. Novels, poems, and so on, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/the-nature-of-the-epistolary-genre-was-revealed-to-me-a-form-of/)

[Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/)

> [Letter-writing on the part of a busy man or woman is the quintessence of generosity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/letter-writing-on-the-part-of-a-busy-man-or-woman-is-the-quintessence/)

[Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/)

## More by Emily Dickinson

> [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [I could not prove the Years had feet-/Yet confident they run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/i-could-not-prove-the-years-had-feet-yet-confident-they-run/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [How softly summer shuts, without the creaking of a door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/how-softly-summer-shuts-without-the-creaking-of-a-door/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“Could you tell me how to grow--or is it unconveyed--like Melody--or Witchcraft?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/could-you-tell-me-how-to-grow-or-is-it-unconveyed-like-melody-or/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [It might be lonelier Without the Loneliness - I’m so accustomed to my Fate - Perhaps the Other - Peace - Would interrupt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-might-be-lonelier-without-the-loneliness-i-m-so-accustomed-to-my/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“Inebriate of Air — am I — And Debauchee of Dew — Reeling — thro endless summer days — From Inns of Molten Blue —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/inebriate-of-air-am-i-and-debauchee-of-dew-reeling-thro-endless/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/luck-is-not-chance-it-s-toil-fortune-s-expensive-smile-is-earned/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [The abdication of Belief Makes the Behavior small- Better an ignis fatuus Than no illume at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/the-abdication-of-belief-makes-the-behavior-small-better-an-ignis/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [Longing is like a seed that wrestles in the ground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/longing-is-like-a-seed-that-wrestles-in-the-ground/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“He ate and drank the precious words, His spirit grew robust; He knew no more that he was poor, Nor that his frame was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/he-ate-and-drank-the-precious-words-his-spirit-grew-robust-he-knew-no/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [I SEE thee better in the dark, I do not need a light. The love of thee a prism be Excelling violet. I see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/i-see-thee-better-in-the-dark-i-do-not-need-a-light-the-love-of-thee/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [One step at a time is all it takes to get you there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/one-step-at-a-time-is-all-it-takes-to-get-you-there/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [“Whose fingers string the stalactite- Who counts the Wampum of the night”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/whose-fingers-string-the-stalactite-who-counts-the-wampum-of-the-night/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [My life closed twice before its close](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/my-life-closed-twice-before-its-close/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

> [Until you have loved, you cannot become yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/until-you-have-loved-you-cannot-become-yourself/)

[Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

[Explore all 692 Emily Dickinson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/)

## More Death quotes

> [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/)

[Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/)

> [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/)

[Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/)

> [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/)

[Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/)

> [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/)

[Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/)

> [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/)

[Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/)

> [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/)

[Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/)

> [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/)

J. Anthony Torino

> [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/)

[Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/)

> [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/)

Alan W. Powers

> [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/)

[Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/)

> [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/)

[Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/)

> [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/)

[Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/)

> [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/)

[Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/)

> [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/)

[Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/)

[Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Emily Dickinson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immortality-because-it-is-the-mind/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Death"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immortality-because-it-is-the-mind/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/emily-dickinson-310_death_a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immort_2126986.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/emily-dickinson-310_death_a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immort_2126986.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/emily-dickinson-310_death_a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immort_2126986.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.” — Emily Dickinson",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Emily Dickinson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "A letter always seemed to me...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immortality-because-it-is-the-mind/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-letter-always-seemed-to-me-like-immortality-because-it-is-the-mind/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
