Why I Write

by George Orwell

the act of writing is inherently political, and that clarity, honesty, and purpose are the tools of resistance against oppression and falsehood.

but before he ever begins to write he will have acquired an emotional attitude from which he will never completely escape.

The

opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude.

In a peaceful age I might have written ornate or merely descriptive books, and might have remained almost unaware of my political loyalties.

Good prose is like a windowpane.