Vanity in writing
How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
- Henry David Thoreau
And I'm left speechless.
I wonder now why I write at all.
I like to write,yes, but why? Is it in part because it silently fuels the raging fire inside me that is my ego? Or maybe, like Walden said, it's plain vanity?
posted by Srihari at 3:36 PM
4 Comments:
Bah! Thats really pompous, even if the "Great Thoreau" said it. Sorry, doesnt cut ice with me. I like to write because I think I may have something interesting to say, and even if not, perhaps, an interesting way to say it. Thats good enough.
what??! dude ur freakin me out! is this the end of all your writing?
I think I understand, my jaw dropped just now when I read that quote.
Is it wrong to be vain, if it is vain?
I don't know if it is vanity or a raging fire in a huge ego; only that I enjoy writing and that is sufficient reaso to do it.
After all, how many do what they want to, when they want to? How many even do what they love to do? It is not a gift to be thrown away, lightly or otherwise.
Camphor: Your questions are valid.
Is it wrong to be vain? Right or wrong is subjective, but I do feel vanity, like pride, can do much more harm than good.
If you enjoy writing, by all means do. I like writing too, but my introspection was intended to understand what and why I write. I have learned a lesson or two thanks to that period of reflection.
No gift is to be thrown away. I believe any gift can be used for different purposes. I only seek to remove the self-serving, self-aggrandizing, self-gratifying dimensions from my writing. But its easier said than done.
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