At least one poll has put Johnny Cash’s letter to his wife, June Carter Cash, as the greatest love letter of all time. The letter was written over 20 years ago.
June 23 1994
Odense, Denmark.
Happy Birthday Princess,
We get old and get use to each other. We think alike. We read each others minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted.
But once in awhile, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You’re the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much.
Happy Birthday Princess.
John
–
It’s impossible to pick one letter and declare it the greatest of all time, there are so many wonderful examples of writing from the heart. Just one other beautiful example is Richard Feynman’s letter to his wife. You can see the letter read aloud by Oscar Isaac below:
What these two letters have in common is that they don’t rely on poetic prose – a love letter is simply letting another person know how you feel.
Photos Courtesy of Insight Editions, LP. House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father, Johnny Cash. © 2011 Cash Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved