My favorite quotation is from a German philosopher called Rainer Maria Rilke. The quote, in German, is from a collection of letters to a young poet, and goes like this:
"Dieses vor allem: fragen Sie sich in der stillsten Stunde Ihrer Nacht: muß ich schreiben?"
The rough English translation is: "This before everything: ask yourself in the quietest hour of the night: must I write?"
The entire letter suggests that we must look deeply inward to decide if writing is our calling. If we feel in the deepest of chambers of our heart that writing is what we were put on this Earth to do, it must be true, and thus we should chase after this ambition.
As I reflect on Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet" during this late hour of night, I feel a strong "yes" in response to his question. I must write.
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