On Writing

My writing always came out of a very personal place, out of an attempt to stay sane. I might not have understood that, or admitted that once, but actually now I think, well why not? Yes, it is self-therapy. And if other people find value in it, it's precisely on that basis. So I'm the opposite of an academic who comes at knowledge from a desire to find out exactly what Plato thought. My view is: OK, let's find out what Plato thought because he might make a difference to me, to you, he might tell us something that is of use.
Alain de Botton