Thanks to the fact that I write, my life is satisfactory: I can inhabit gloom and live in joy. When something unpleasant happens to me, provided only that is potentially of literary use, my first thought is ?How best can I describe this?? I thereby distance myself from my own displeasure or irritation. As I tell my patients, much to their surprise -- for it is not a fashionable view -- it is far more important to be able to lose yourself than to find yourself. --Theodore Dalrymple --Reasons to be cheerful (Spectator)
Dalrymple is an erudite, literate medical doctor who specializes in prison services. He is also a wonderful writer.
Leave a comment