Letters

When distances still were distances

It is the function of a letter that it preserves the feelings of sympathy that people that are far away from each other feel for each other. It also repairs the damage caused by a long time. It bridges even the greatest distances. It summarizes on a small piece of paper everything we have done in many days, yes, in many years. And with those who are very far away from us, we share all our prosperity and adversity with a confidence and warmth as if they were with us.

From a letter to a friend by the Dutch humanist Rodolphus Agricola, 5 February 1471