“But ‘why then publish?’ There are no rewards
Of fame or profit when the world grows weary.
I ask in turn why do you play at cards?
Why drink? Why read? To make some hour less dreary.
It occupies me to turn back regards
On what I’ve seen or pondered, sad or cheery,
And what I write I cast upon the stream
To swim or sink. I have had at least my dream.”
? George Gordon Byron, Don Juan
A great quote. I am also reminded of these lines from one of Goethe’s plays:
“Und wenn der Mensch in seiner Qual verstummt,
Gab mir ein Gott, zu sagen, wie ich leide.”
Which sort of means that while most people suffer in silence, a writer can at least relieve his/her pain by expressing it in words – catharsis.