A short letter to a distant friend is, in my opinion, an insult like that of a slight bow or cursory salutation

There are charms made only for distant admiration.

My dear friend, clear your mind of cant.

Disposition to derision and insult is awakened by the softness to foppery, the swell of insolence, the liveliness of levity, or the solemnity of grandeur; by the sprightly trip, the stately stalk, the formal strut, and the lofty mein; by gestures int

He never was a friend who ceased to be so for a slight cause

He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.