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Oh dear, I fear this weblog could easily turn into 'Pete's favourite quotes'. How vain. Oh well, I can live with that.

Today I bought Why I Write by George Orwell. It's one of those Penguin Big Ideas books. He's very clever and I like the four reasons he gives for why people write.

"All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. For all one knows that demon is simply the same instinct that makes a baby squall for attention."

The conceit of the writer. Along with "sheer egoism", Eric discusses "Aesthetic enthusiasm", "Historical impulse", and "Political Purporse". Hmmm, all pretty faggy really.