--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have always been a letter writer, and I…" description: "\"I have always been a letter writer, and I found when my numbers got over half a million, I couldn't think about how many people there were out there. I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/210/heather-cox-richardson-6324_brothers-and-sisters_i-have-always-been-a-letter-writer-and-i_2560307.jpg" --- # I have always been a letter writer, and I found when my… ![“I have always been a letter writer, and I found when my numbers got over half a million, I couldn't think about how many people there were out there. I had to think as if I were writing a letter to my brothers and sisters, to my good friends with whom I have had a correspondence since I could hold…” quote by Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/210/heather-cox-richardson-6324_brothers-and-sisters_i-have-always-been-a-letter-writer-and-i_2560307.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/210/heather-cox-richardson-6324_brothers-and-sisters_i-have-always-been-a-letter-writer-and-i_2560307.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/210/heather-cox-richardson-6324_brothers-and-sisters_i-have-always-been-a-letter-writer-and-i_2560307.jpg) > “I have always been a letter writer, and I found when my numbers got over half a million, I couldn't think about how many people there were out there. I had to think as if I were writing a letter to my brothers and sisters, to my good friends with whom I have had a correspondence since I could hold a pen.” [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing to a vast audience requires personalizing each message as if addressing close friends. **In simple terms:** Write personally to many. Key Takeaway Cultivate intimacy in mass communication. Themes communication writing public discourse Mood inspirational practical Type educational motivational When to use this quote - newsletters - social media - public addresses Key Concepts media studies political science psychology Questions to Reflect On - How to maintain authenticity in large audiences? - What strategies personalize mass messages? A Different Perspective Personal tone may seem insincere at scale. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brothers and sisters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brothers-and-sisters/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Good friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-friend/) [Good friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-friends/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing A Letter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-a-letter/) ## Related quotes > [I wouldn't underestimate the power of writing a letter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-alison/i-wouldn-t-underestimate-the-power-of-writing-a-letter/) [Jane Alison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-alison/) > [“Does it help?” he asks. “The e-mailing.” She nods. “A tiny bit. It’s strange. You’re writing a letter to someone who’s never going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/does-it-help-he-asks-the-e-mailing-she-nods-a-tiny-bit-it-s-strange/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [The creative act is like writing a letter. A letter is a project; you don't sit down to write a letter unless you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lukas-foss/the-creative-act-is-like-writing-a-letter-a-letter-is-a-project-you/) [Lukas Foss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lukas-foss/) > [It's been said that happiness writes white. It doesn't show up on the page. When you're on holiday and writing a letter home to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/it-s-been-said-that-happiness-writes-white-it-doesn-t-show-up-on-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [To me, making a tape is like writing a letter – there's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again, and I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/to-me-making-a-tape-is-like-writing-a-letter-there-s-a-lot-of-erasing/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) > [When I'm really involved or getting towards the end of a novel, I can write for up to ten hours a day. At those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/when-i-m-really-involved-or-getting-towards-the-end-of-a-novel-i-can/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [When one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamamoto-tsunetomo/when-one-is-writing-a-letter-he-should-think-that-the-recipient-will/) [Yamamoto Tsunetomo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamamoto-tsunetomo/) > [A man writing a letter is a man in the act of thinking, and it was an exercise Reagan obviously enjoyed. After his first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-baker/a-man-writing-a-letter-is-a-man-in-the-act-of-thinking-and-it-was-an/) [Russell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-baker/) > [I think e-mail is kind of a cheap way to communicate. It's a lazy way of writing a letter, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peyton-manning/i-think-e-mail-is-kind-of-a-cheap-way-to-communicate-it-s-a-lazy-way/) [Peyton Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peyton-manning/) > [A letter is not a dialogue or even an omniscient exposition. It is a fabric of surfaces, a mask, a form as well suited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/a-letter-is-not-a-dialogue-or-even-an-omniscient-exposition-it-is-a/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [Someone who does not write books, who thinks a lot, and who lives in unsatisfying society will usually be a good letter- writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/someone-who-does-not-write-books-who-thinks-a-lot-and-who-lives-in/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The frankest and freest product of the human mind and heart is a love letter; the writer gets his limitless freedom of statement and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-frankest-and-freest-product-of-the-human-mind-and-heart-is-a-love/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I've never gotten a letter where I thought I knew the person. But I have heard from people who think they know the letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-yoffe/i-ve-never-gotten-a-letter-where-i-thought-i-knew-the-person-but-i/) [Emily Yoffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-yoffe/) > [There was no escape from the letter-writer who, a hundred or a hundred and twenty-five years ago, captured a coveted correspondent. It would have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/there-was-no-escape-from-the-letter-writer-who-a-hundred-or-a-hundred/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [“Writing this letter is like putting a note in a bottle— And hoping It will reach Japan.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/writing-this-letter-is-like-putting-a-note-in-a-bottle-and-hoping-it/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) ## More by Heather Cox Richardson > [Since 2012, the USPS has not been able to meet its prefunding requirement, but without it, the agency would have made a modest operating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/since-2012-the-usps-has-not-been-able-to-meet-its-prefunding/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Republicans turned against organized workers and abandoned the idea of promoting equality at the bottom of the economic scale. They turned their idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/republicans-turned-against-organized-workers-and-abandoned-the-idea/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Producing 1,200 words every day, when you're already working a full-time job is a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/producing-1-200-words-every-day-when-you-re-already-working-a-full/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Abraham Lincoln and others recoiled from the idea of government as a prop for the rich. In organizing the Republican Party, they highlighted the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/abraham-lincoln-and-others-recoiled-from-the-idea-of-government-as-a/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Men like Abraham Lincoln recognized that if the slaveholders were not stopped, it would only be a question of time until they spread their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/men-like-abraham-lincoln-recognized-that-if-the-slaveholders-were-not/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [The question of impeaching Donald Trump is about replacing the toxic partisanship of today's Republican party with America's traditional rule of law. It has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/the-question-of-impeaching-donald-trump-is-about-replacing-the-toxic/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Trump's administration looks a great deal like those of the 1850s and the 1890s, with business and government so intertwined that they cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/trump-s-administration-looks-a-great-deal-like-those-of-the-1850s-and/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Trump's alliance with Russia's Vladimir Putin, in defiance of America's own intelligence community, the Department of Justice, and the bipartisan report of the Senate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/trump-s-alliance-with-russia-s-vladimir-putin-in-defiance-of-america/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [When a president, as Trump does, demonises opponents as an un-American mob trying to destroy the country, it is not a lunatic who tries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/when-a-president-as-trump-does-demonises-opponents-as-an-un-american/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Democracy was always a gamble. In 1776, the founders rejected the old idea that government should be based on hierarchies according to wealth or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/democracy-was-always-a-gamble-in-1776-the-founders-rejected-the-old/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Dog whistles about women who want handouts are simply an acceptable way to say that women are not worth as much as the men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/dog-whistles-about-women-who-want-handouts-are-simply-an-acceptable/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [The Treaty of Fort Laramie established most of what would later become South Dakota as a reservation, along with the Black Hills. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/the-treaty-of-fort-laramie-established-most-of-what-would-later/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Under Ronald Reagan, hatred of the liberal media took on a storybook quality. Reagan had honed his political skills as a spokesman for General…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/under-ronald-reagan-hatred-of-the-liberal-media-took-on-a-storybook/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Beginning in 1981, when government policies began to undermine the liberal consensus of the previous generation, wealth began to diverge. It is more unevenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/beginning-in-1981-when-government-policies-began-to-undermine-the/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [Mt. Rushmore was conceived in 1923 in a desperate attempt to draw tourist dollars to a state that had been rushed into the Union…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/mt-rushmore-was-conceived-in-1923-in-a-desperate-attempt-to-draw/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) [Explore all 99 Heather Cox Richardson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) ## More Brothers and sisters quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [There's no publicist, no advertisements, and no one's pushing us. If people are buying our records, it's because big brothers and sisters or friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-moody/there-s-no-publicist-no-advertisements-and-no-one-s-pushing-us-if/) Spencer Moody > [Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/brothers-and-sisters-i-bid-you-beware-of-giving-your-heart-to-a-dog/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Like a child exploring the attic of an old house on a rainy day, discovering a trunk full of treasure and then calling all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/like-a-child-exploring-the-attic-of-an-old-house-on-a-rainy-day/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [Mr. Peabody is this genetic anomaly. He does have brothers and sisters, all of them non-speaking, not super-smart dogs. He's an outcast, but has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-minkoff/mr-peabody-is-this-genetic-anomaly-he-does-have-brothers-and-sisters/) [Rob Minkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-minkoff/) > [Jeremiah Wright is one of the greatest prophetic preachers that black America has produced. What I find striking is that many white brothers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/jeremiah-wright-is-one-of-the-greatest-prophetic-preachers-that-black/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [ What are you for? It may be, to a degree, consoling that white brothers and sisters did not vote for \[Donald\] Trump, and do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/what-are-you-for-it-may-be-to-a-degree-consoling-that-white-brothers/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [How many years has it taken people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race? I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsha-p-johnson/how-many-years-has-it-taken-people-to-realize-that-we-are-all/) [Marsha P. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsha-p-johnson/) > [I have 10 brothers and sisters. My mother raised us because my father died when I was 8.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-kennedy/i-have-10-brothers-and-sisters-my-mother-raised-us-because-my-father/) [Kerry Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-kennedy/) > [We have forgotten to be our brothers and sisters keepers. And we have forgotten that the Number 1 goal is to love one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/we-have-forgotten-to-be-our-brothers-and-sisters-keepers-and-we-have/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [The only siblings I have are half-siblings. My nuclear family would have been an extra-suffocating threesome. Instead, I have an interesting brother and sister,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-smiley/the-only-siblings-i-have-are-half-siblings-my-nuclear-family-would/) [Jane Smiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-smiley/) > [Brothers and sisters, white people will come in to chastise us. But since we are no longer forsaken, and are the people of God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/brothers-and-sisters-white-people-will-come-in-to-chastise-us-but/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/a-father-may-turn-his-back-on-his-child-brothers-and-sisters-may/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [With a basic understanding of all humans as brothers and sisters, we can appreciate the usefulness of different systems and ideologies that can accommodate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/with-a-basic-understanding-of-all-humans-as-brothers-and-sisters-we/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [God helping me, I will help my brothers and sisters in Christ, because they are my brothers and sisters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-barber-lightfoot/god-helping-me-i-will-help-my-brothers-and-sisters-in-christ-because/) [Joseph Barber Lightfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-barber-lightfoot/) [Browse all 956 Brothers and sisters quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brothers-and-sisters/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have always been a letter writer, and I found when my numbers got over half a million, I couldn't think about how many people there were out there. 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