You may well ask why I write. And yet my reasons are quite many. For it is not unusual in human beings who have witnessed the sack of a city or the falling to pieces of a people to set down what they have witnessed for the benefit of unknown heirs or of generations infinitely remote; or, if you please, just to get the sight out of their heads.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People write to preserve witnesses of trauma or to clear their minds after experiencing catastrophic events.
- In plain terms
- Writing helps people record what they saw during disasters or get bad memories out of their heads.
- What can you take from it?
- Writing can serve as a record of trauma or a way to process grief.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do you write?
- What should be preserved?
Another view
It overlooks writing done purely for art or profit.
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