It is in books, poems, paintings which often give us the confidence to take seriously feelings in ourselves that we might otherwise never have thought to acknowledge.
Alain De BottonRead
Writing isn’t a career choice. It’s self-medication that over time precipitates the madness it was meant to ward off.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing serves as a therapeutic outlet that can also amplify one's internal struggles.
This quote by Alain De Botton highlights the complex relationship between writing and personal well-being. It suggests that while writing can be a form of self-therapy intended to alleviate mental distress, it can also intensify the very difficulties it seeks to address, leading to a deeper exploration of one's psyche and potentially resulting in madness. Essentially, it illustrates the dual nature of the writing process as both a healing and a revealing practice.
Themes
WritingSelf-MedicationMadnessTherapyArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a creative writing workshop, to emphasize the therapeutic nature of writing.
More from Alain De Botton
All quotes →Taking architecture seriously therefore makes some singular and strenuous demands upon us...It means conceding that we are inconveniently vulnerable to the colour of our wallpaper and that our sense of purpose may be derailed by an unfortunate bedspread
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The more closely we analyze what we consider 'sexy,' the more clearly we will understand that eroticism is the feeling of excitement we experience at finding another human being who shares our values and our sense of the meaning of existence.
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Good books put a finger on emotions that are deeply our own - but that we could never have described on our own.
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It is the most ambitious and driven among us who are the most sorely in need of having our reckless hopes dampened through immersive dousings in the darkness which religions have explored. This is a particular priority for secular Americans, perhaps the most anxious and disappointed people on earth, for their nation infuses them with the most extreme hopes about what they may be able to achieve in their working lives and relationships.
Alain De BottonRead
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