Life must be filled up

Yesterday evening I watched The Delicious Miss Dahl on BBC2. I can’t say I was much impressed by her analysis of melancholy, nor did I fancy any of her recipes. I was interested though that she quoted Sydney Smith, the nineteenth century clergyman who was a noted wit in his day. If you think you know the name vaguely, you’ve probably read somewhere his famous saying that living in the country you are ‘ten miles from a lemon’. Cookery writers are fond of it.

In 1820 he wrote to Lady Morpeth advising her how to cope with ‘low spirits’. The Delicious Miss Dahl quoted part of it and here’s the whole thing.
( under the cut )

This is blindingly obvious to anyone who has ever suffered from it. But you'd be better off with a broken leg.