By Charles Lamb, 1775-1834
(from a Pall Mall cigarette advertisement, 1937)

Clearly, Charles Lamb more than just liked to smoke.
He was expressing a powerful sentiment shared by many smokers.
Here, tongue in cheek, is a supposed non-smoker's view of smokers...

THE GASPERS' PRAYER

Our Smokers,
Who art in the cold, smoke filled doorways,
Dwindling be thy numbers.

Thy cigarettes be lit,
Thy smoke be omnipresent
All around us, as in thy doorways.

Spare us this day your second-hand smoke,
And forgive us for avoiding you,
As we forgive you your constant puffing.

Lead us not into cigarette addiction,
And save us from your coughing and diseases.

For thine is the TOXIC GAS,
The OVERPOWERING BREATH,
and the FETID ODORS.

For ever and ever,
until you quit.

GHU RR UGH!!!