United States Postal Service creed

The words "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" have long been associated with the American postal worker. Though not an official creed or motto of the United States Postal Service, the Postal Service acknowledges it as an informal motto[1] along with Charles W. Eliot's poem "The Letter".[2]

Inscription on James Farley Post Office

The phrase's association with the U.S. Mail originated with its inscription on New York City's General Post Office Building, which opened in 1914.[3] The inscription was added to the building by William M. Kendall of the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the building's architects. The phrase derives from a passage in George Herbert Palmer's translation of Herodotus' Histories, referring to the courier service of the ancient Persian Empire:

It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.[4]

— Herodotus, Histories (8.98) (trans. A. D. Godley, 1924)

See also

References
  1. "History of the United States Postal Service". Mailbox Near Me. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  2. Postal Service Mission and “Motto”. USPS.com. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  3. "National Postal Museum: FAQs". National Postal Museum. 2011. Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  4. Herodotus. "The Histories". Perseus Project. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
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