--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forgive me. I should not have opened…" description: "\"“Forgive me. I should not have opened those letters, Mina; but from the moment the first envelope touched my hand, I felt something that I cannot expla..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/syrie-james-18125_letters_forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-thos_2440944.jpg" --- # Forgive me. I should not have opened those letters, Mina… ![“Forgive me. I should not have opened those letters, Mina; but from the moment the first envelope touched my hand, I felt something that I cannot explain. I read your precious words. It was as if your spirit were emanating off the page. I could not bear to part with them." His voice was filled with…” quote by Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/syrie-james-18125_letters_forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-thos_2440944.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/syrie-james-18125_letters_forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-thos_2440944.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/syrie-james-18125_letters_forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-thos_2440944.jpg) > ““Forgive me. I should not have opened those letters, Mina; but from the moment the first envelope touched my hand, I felt something that I cannot explain. I read your precious words. It was as if your spirit were emanating off the page. I could not bear to part with them." His voice was filled with such emotion and apparent sincerity that- despite myself- it made a tiny chink in my wall of fear and hatred.”” [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Opening personal letters triggers deep emotional response, breaking down fear and hatred through empathy and connection. **In simple terms:** Reading heartfelt words can soften hatred. Key Takeaway Allow empathy to soften hostility. Themes empathy vulnerability transformation fear Mood intimate hopeful Type emotional inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - relationship building - conflict resolution Key Concepts emotional intimacy psychological healing trust building Questions to Reflect On - What letters have moved you deeply? - How can you use empathy to reduce personal fear? A Different Perspective May be idealistic; not all wounds heal quickly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Mina-and-dracula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mina-and-dracula/) [Precious Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precious-words/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Did I fall asleep and dream- or did I imagine it, fully awakened? I cannot be sure; all I remember is that the tall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/did-i-fall-asleep-and-dream-or-did-i-imagine-it-fully-awakened-i/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“He never spoke a word; yet my entire body was aflame. With shameful joy in my heart, I trembled as I moved against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/he-never-spoke-a-word-yet-my-entire-body-was-aflame-with-shameful-joy/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“I felt his lips press against my hair, then move lower to tenderly kiss my neck. "Mina: for weeks, I have dreamt of bringing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/i-felt-his-lips-press-against-my-hair-then-move-lower-to-tenderly/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“My love," he said gently, as one hand reached up to caress my face, "you are not still afraid of me?" "No." My voice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/my-love-he-said-gently-as-one-hand-reached-up-to-caress-my-face-you/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“It is an interesting concept, is it not- the idea of never aging? Would it appeal to you, to be rich, beautiful, and eternally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/it-is-an-interesting-concept-is-it-not-the-idea-of-never-aging-would/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Since the moment we met, it has been a test of strength and will to keep my hands and teeth off you; but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/since-the-moment-we-met-it-has-been-a-test-of-strength-and-will-to/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“You have found the person with whom you wish to share all the days of your life." His eyes lifted to mine and settled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/you-have-found-the-person-with-whom-you-wish-to-share-all-the-days-of/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Drink," he said. I pressed my mouth to the wound, first lapping up the blood as it flowed out, and then sucking deeply from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/drink-he-said-i-pressed-my-mouth-to-the-wound-first-lapping-up-the/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Mina: for centuries, I have been alone. I have nearly perished from loneliness, and yet I could not die. I have longed to meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/mina-for-centuries-i-have-been-alone-i-have-nearly-perished-from/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“The moment my head touched my pillow, I heard Nicolae in my mind: 'So: my little theatricals were well received?' 'You made an excellent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/the-moment-my-head-touched-my-pillow-i-heard-nicolae-in-my-mind-so-my/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“What are you afraid of?" he said tenderly. "That I will take advantage of your virtue? Or that I will bite you and feed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/what-are-you-afraid-of-he-said-tenderly-that-i-will-take-advantage-of/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“I was too stunned to think or move. I knew he desired my blood. And yet I did not want to hinder him. With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/i-was-too-stunned-to-think-or-move-i-knew-he-desired-my-blood-and-yet/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [A person who can not read your spoken eyes, there you don't need to waste your precious words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faraz/a-person-who-can-not-read-your-spoken-eyes-there-you-don-t-need-to/) [FARAZ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faraz/) > [“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/) > [“The boldness and strength and happiness that were natural to me and to which I was denying their natural outlet refused to be denied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-butler-hathaway/the-boldness-and-strength-and-happiness-that-were-natural-to-me-and/) [Katharine Butler Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-butler-hathaway/) ## More by Syrie James > [“A line from The Picture of Dorian Gray kept running through my head- a line which, I thought, might have been written by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/a-line-from-the-picture-of-dorian-gray-kept-running-through-my-head-a/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Jane!" cried he softly, moving closer. "All these long months that we have been apart, even believing it to be impossible, it is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/jane-cried-he-softly-moving-closer-all-these-long-months-that-we-have/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“I believe there is a kind of happiness to be found in every thing in life, in all that is good and pleasing, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/i-believe-there-is-a-kind-of-happiness-to-be-found-in-every-thing-in/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“I was too stunned to think or move. I knew he desired my blood. And yet I did not want to hinder him. With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/i-was-too-stunned-to-think-or-move-i-knew-he-desired-my-blood-and-yet/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“What are you afraid of?" he said tenderly. "That I will take advantage of your virtue? Or that I will bite you and feed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/what-are-you-afraid-of-he-said-tenderly-that-i-will-take-advantage-of/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“To love, to be loved, and to be useful: these are the most important elements in a happy, meaningful life, and they can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/to-love-to-be-loved-and-to-be-useful-these-are-the-most-important/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“The moment my head touched my pillow, I heard Nicolae in my mind: 'So: my little theatricals were well received?' 'You made an excellent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/the-moment-my-head-touched-my-pillow-i-heard-nicolae-in-my-mind-so-my/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Mina: for centuries, I have been alone. I have nearly perished from loneliness, and yet I could not die. I have longed to meet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/mina-for-centuries-i-have-been-alone-i-have-nearly-perished-from/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Some habits are harder to break than others”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/some-habits-are-harder-to-break-than-others/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“If all the days and nights in the world were to cease to be, I still hold that we were meant to meet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/if-all-the-days-and-nights-in-the-world-were-to-cease-to-be-i-still/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“The feel of her body against his was exhilarating, driving all rational thought from his head. “All right, prepare yourself, Claire Brennan.” She looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/the-feel-of-her-body-against-his-was-exhilarating-driving-all/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Drink," he said. I pressed my mouth to the wound, first lapping up the blood as it flowed out, and then sucking deeply from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/drink-he-said-i-pressed-my-mouth-to-the-wound-first-lapping-up-the/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“I was fortunate to attend a school with an excellent library”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/i-was-fortunate-to-attend-a-school-with-an-excellent-library/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Interesting," said I, "is a term I reserve to describe people or things so dull or ordinary, that I can find no more promising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/interesting-said-i-is-a-term-i-reserve-to-describe-people-or-things/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) > [“Some of the most thrilling things in life are done on impulse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/some-of-the-most-thrilling-things-in-life-are-done-on-impulse/) [Syrie James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) [Explore all 33 Syrie James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/) ## More Letters quotes > [I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture. MARTIN LUTHER, letter to Chancellor Gregory Brück, January 13,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/i-cannot-forbid-a-person-to-marry-several-wives-for-it-does-not/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Harry Truman wrote scathing letters, but he almost never sent them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/harry-truman-wrote-scathing-letters-but-he-almost-never-sent-them/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [“Woe to you, my Princess, when I come. I will kiss you quite red and feed you till you are plump. And if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/woe-to-you-my-princess-when-i-come-i-will-kiss-you-quite-red-and-feed/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“Dear Beloved woman, Time… so much time has passed since my love wrote his last words for me. And yet I remember it as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talon-p-s/dear-beloved-woman-time-so-much-time-has-passed-since-my-love-wrote/) [Talon P.S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talon-p-s/) > [Helvetica is the jeans, and Univers the dinner jacket. Helvetica is here to stay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-frutiger/helvetica-is-the-jeans-and-univers-the-dinner-jacket-helvetica-is/) [Adrian Frutiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-frutiger/) > [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/) > [There is 1 thing 2 do 3 words 4 u I love u](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-1-thing-2-do-3-words-4-u-i-love-u/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Instruction does much, but encouragement everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/instruction-does-much-but-encouragement-everything/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [A hundred years ago Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter was given an A for adultery; today she would rate no better than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/a-hundred-years-ago-hester-prynne-of-the-scarlet-letter-was-given-an/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Mr Witwould: "Pray, madam, do you pin up your hair with all your letters? I find I must keep copies." Mrs Millamant: "Only with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-congreve/mr-witwould-pray-madam-do-you-pin-up-your-hair-with-all-your-letters/) [William Congreve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-congreve/) Browse all 3,058 Letters quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Forgive me. I should not have opened those letters, Mina; but from the moment the first envelope touched my hand, I felt something that I cannot explain. I read your precious words. It was as if your spirit were emanating off the page. I could not bear to part with them.\" His voice was filled with such emotion and apparent sincerity that- despite myself- it made a tiny chink in my wall of fear and hatred.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Syrie James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-those-letters-mina-but-from-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Letters" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-those-letters-mina-but-from-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/syrie-james-18125_letters_forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-thos_2440944.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/syrie-james-18125_letters_forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-thos_2440944.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a3/syrie-james-18125_letters_forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-thos_2440944.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Forgive me. I should not have opened those letters, Mina; but from the moment the first envelope touched my…” — Syrie James", "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": "Syrie James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syrie-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Forgive me. I should not have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-those-letters-mina-but-from-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syrie-james/forgive-me-i-should-not-have-opened-those-letters-mina-but-from-the/#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 } } ] } ```