Menu

George Orwell on writing: we’re all vain, selfish, and lazy

My wife just emailed me this quote on writing. I can’t figure out if she’s encouraging me or insulting me. Ah, the wonderful mysteries of marriage.

All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.

George Orwell, Why I Write