notes & shorter letters

"The letter you write, whether you realize it or not, is always a mirror which reflects your appearance, taste and character. A ‘sloppy’ letter with the writing all pouring into one corner of the page, badly worded, badly spelled, and with unmatched paper and envelope—even possibly a blot—proclaims the sort of person who would have unkempt hair, unclean linen and broken shoe laces; just as a neat, precise, evenly written note portrays a person of like characteristics." 

–from the chapter “Notes and Shorter Letters,” Etiquette, by Emily Post, 1922.