Thank you for your letter. I shall try to do better.
Mr. J. Ruskin is about to begin a work of great importance and therefore begs that in reference to calls and correspondence you will consider him dead for the next two months.
John Ruskin
Form reply during busy periods
1840s onwards
Dear Sir/Madam,
You may be right.
Sincerely yours,
H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
Form reply for abusive mail
MISS NANCY MITFORD
is unable to do as you ask
Nancy Mitford
Form rejection postcard
I hope I shall not offend you; I shall certainly say nothing with the intention to offend you. I must explain myself, however, and I will do it as kindly as I can. What you ask me to do, I am asked to do as often as one-half dozen times a week. Three hundred letters a year! One’s impulse is to freely consent, but one’s time and necessary occupations will not permit it. There is no way but to decline in all cases, making no exceptions, and I wish to call your attention to a thing which has probably not occurred to you, and that is this: that no man takes pleasure in exercising his trade as a pastime. Writing is my trade, and I exercise it only when I am obliged to. You might make your request of a doctor, or a builder, or a sculptor, and there would be no impropriety in it, but if you asked either of those for a specimen of his trade, his handiwork, he would be justified in rising to a point of order. It would never be fair to ask a doctor for one of his corpses to remember him by.
Mark Twain
Form response for autograph hunters
Thank you for your letter. I shall try to do better.
Carl Sandburg
Form reply for critics
Mr. Evelyn Waugh greatly regrets that he cannot do what you so kindly suggest.
Evelyn Waugh
Form rejection postcard
1950s
Edmund Wilson regrets that it is impossible for him to:
Read manuscripts,
Write articles or books to order,
Write forewords or introductions,
Make statements for publicity purposes,
Do any kind of editorial work,
Judge literary contests,
Give interviews,
Conduct educational courses,
Deliver lectures,
Give talks or make speeches,
Broadcast or appear on television,
Take part in writers’ congresses,
Answer questionnaires,
Contribute or take part in symposiums or “panels” of any kind,
Contribute manuscripts for sales,
Donate copies of his books for libraries,
Autograph books for strangers,
Allow his name to be used on letterheads,
Supply personal information about himself,
Supply photographs of himself,
Supply opinions on literary or other subjects.
Edmund Wilson
Form rejection postcard
See also: The Art of Saying No.
Great post.
Brings to mind the recalcitrant scrivener immortalized by Melville-
“I would prefer not to,” replied Bartleby.
Thanks, Shaun, this came at the perfect time -- Overscheduled in Arizona