"And with a child's delight in simple things." That I have not lost all this, I felt to-day, in receiving a note from an unknown person, from one who had read some poems of mine in childhood, and now, a woman, bears something not unworthy the name of poet; to hear some new voice speaking to me in this way, as a friend, is pleasant to me. I have written as I have felt, in my verses; they have been true words from my deepest life, often; and I am glad whenever they call forth a sincere answer, as now; — one word of real appreciation repays me for pages of mere fault-finding. Yet a kind fault-finder is the best of friends.
What is the meaning
of "gossip?" Doesn't it originate with sympathy, an interest in one's
neighbor, degenerating into idle curiosity and love of tattling? Which is
worse, this habit, or keeping one's self so absorbed intellectually as to forget
the sufferings and cares of others, to lose sympathy through having too much to
think about?
SOURCE: Daniel
Dulany Addison, Lucy Larcom: Life, Letters, and Diary, pp. 110-1
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