You may not have thought of it just this way, but the letter you write is part of you, and expression of your personality. Therefore to write letters that are mere patterns of form is to present a colorless personality. Letters, by their very nature, are too individual to be standardized. A letter may be absolutely perfect according to the standards of good taste and good form; but unless it also expresses something of the writer's personality, it is not a good letter. In other words, don't be satisfied to write letters that are just correct and nothing more. Try to write letters that are correct for you... letters that are warm and alive with reflections of your own personality. And if this sounds like a platitude ( 陈词滥调 ), stop for a moment and think back over your recent correspondence. What was the most interesting letter you received? Was it a letter anyone could have written? Or was it a letter that instantly “came alive” as you read it—that brought the personality of the sender right into the room with you. as though you were face to face, listening instead of reading? The fault with too many letters, today as in the past—the reason so many letters are dull and lifeless, and often fail to accomplish the purpose for which they are written is simply this: They sound exactly like the letters everyone else writes. They are neither exciting to receive nor stimulating to read.