--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Looking back through the last page or…" description: "\"“Looking back through the last page or two, I see that I have made it appear as though my motives in writing were wholly public-spirited. I don’t want ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/george-orwell-57_motives_looking-back-through-the-last-page-or-tw_2509417.jpg" --- # Looking back through the last page or two, I see that I… ![“Looking back through the last page or two, I see that I have made it appear as though my motives in writing were wholly public-spirited. I don’t want to leave that as the final impression. All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/george-orwell-57_motives_looking-back-through-the-last-page-or-tw_2509417.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/george-orwell-57_motives_looking-back-through-the-last-page-or-tw_2509417.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/337/george-orwell-57_motives_looking-back-through-the-last-page-or-tw_2509417.jpg) > ““Looking back through the last page or two, I see that I have made it appear as though my motives in writing were wholly public-spirited. I don’t want to leave that as the final impression. All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. For all one knows that demon is simply the same instinct that makes a baby squall for attention. And yet it is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one’s own personality. Good prose is like a windowpane. I cannot say with certainty which of my motives are the strongest, but I know which of them deserve to be followed. And looking back through my work, I see that it is invariably where I lacked a POLITICAL purpose that I wrote lifeless books and was betrayed into purple passages, sentences without meaning, decorative adjectives and humbug generally.”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author admits that writing is driven by selfish, painful motives, yet acknowledges the need to suppress ego for clear prose. **In simple terms:** Writing is selfish but must hide ego for clarity. Key Takeaway Accept personal motives, but prioritize honest expression. Themes selfishness creativity authenticity struggle purpose Mood introspective confessional critical Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - authorial reflection - creative process - overcoming perfectionism - balancing personal and political aims Key Concepts ego motivation literary craft psychology pain Questions to Reflect On - What personal motives drive your work? - How can you balance ego and purpose? A Different Perspective The struggle can lead to lifeless work without political purpose. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Motives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motives/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing a book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-a-book/) ## Related quotes > [All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/all-writers-are-vain-selfish-and-lazy-and-at-the-very-bottom-of-their-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/all-writers-are-vain-selfish-and-lazy-and-at-the-very-bottom-of-their-3/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [The four great motives for writing prose are sheer egoism, esthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, and political purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-four-great-motives-for-writing-prose-are-sheer-egoism-esthetic/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/all-writers-are-vain-selfish-and-lazy-and-at-the-very-bottom-of-their/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“There are two motives for writing a book: one, that you may save what you know, the other, that you may share what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/there-are-two-motives-for-writing-a-book-one-that-you-may-save-what/) [Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ifeanyi-enoch-onuoha/) > [“All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/all-writers-are-vain-selfish-and-lazy-and-at-the-very-bottom-of-their-4/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I think theres just this mystique of writing a book that appeals to people. A person has to really check their motives and say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/i-think-theres-just-this-mystique-of-writing-a-book-that-appeals-to/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-do-not-think-one-can-assess-a-writer-s-motives-without-knowing-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/i-do-not-think-one-can-assess-a-writer-s-motives-without-knowing/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/now-i-will-tell-you-the-answer-to-my-question-it-is-this-the-party-3/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/writing-a-book-is-a-horrible-exhausting-struggle-like-a-long-bout-of/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/writing-a-book-is-a-horrible-exhausting-struggle-like-a-long-bout/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It is hard to work for years with pure motives, and all the time be looked upon by most of those to whom our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-livingstone/it-is-hard-to-work-for-years-with-pure-motives-and-all-the-time-be/) [David Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-livingstone/) > [Behind many acts that are thought ridiculous there lie wise and weighty motives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/behind-many-acts-that-are-thought-ridiculous-there-lie-wise-and/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [You can drive yourself crazy trying to peer into a person's soul--or you can do the sensible thing: ask not what inner motives drive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-begala/you-can-drive-yourself-crazy-trying-to-peer-into-a-person-s-soul-or/) [Paul Begala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-begala/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Motives quotes > [You can drive yourself crazy trying to peer into a person's soul--or you can do the sensible thing: ask not what inner motives drive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-begala/you-can-drive-yourself-crazy-trying-to-peer-into-a-person-s-soul-or/) [Paul Begala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-begala/) > [Behind many acts that are thought ridiculous there lie wise and weighty motives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/behind-many-acts-that-are-thought-ridiculous-there-lie-wise-and/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [It is hard to work for years with pure motives, and all the time be looked upon by most of those to whom our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-livingstone/it-is-hard-to-work-for-years-with-pure-motives-and-all-the-time-be/) [David Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-livingstone/) > [“People have motives, what they are, is what you need to notice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-d-walker/people-have-motives-what-they-are-is-what-you-need-to-notice/) S.D. Walker > [“It is usual to explain the motivation of those who enjoy dangerous activities as some sort of pathological need: they are trying to exorcise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/it-is-usual-to-explain-the-motivation-of-those-who-enjoy-dangerous/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Getting down to the nitty-gritty, most people are motivated by unconscious motives most of the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/getting-down-to-the-nitty-gritty-most-people-are-motivated-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“motives are like little flies flying around in my room. I believe I've killed most of them”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dmitry-dyatlov/motives-are-like-little-flies-flying-around-in-my-room-i-believe-i-ve/) [Dmitry Dyatlov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dmitry-dyatlov/) > [I never desire to know anything of the detail of political measures, lest even those which I think best should lose anything of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-kemble/i-never-desire-to-know-anything-of-the-detail-of-political-measures/) [Fanny Kemble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-kemble/) > [Relationships, for me, have been elusive. And I would say mostly it's been my fault. I was always more concentrated on my career. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-lane/relationships-for-me-have-been-elusive-and-i-would-say-mostly-it-s/) [Nathan Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-lane/) > [“how could I have been so naive before, thinking perhaps everyone had good motives, that everyone has a good side to them, even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lotus-rose/how-could-i-have-been-so-naive-before-thinking-perhaps-everyone-had/) Lotus Rose > [“Maybe sometimes the motive behind people’s terrorizing acts isn’t just because of their beliefs or past or some complex and twisted logic. Sometimes their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-torres/maybe-sometimes-the-motive-behind-people-s-terrorizing-acts-isn-t/) [David Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-torres/) > [“This was what growing up was about: hide the corpse, don't bare your heart, do make assumptions about the motives of others. They're certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/this-was-what-growing-up-was-about-hide-the-corpse-don-t-bare-your/) [Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/) > [“Art needs motives that are more profound than profit if it is to maintain its difference from—and position above—other cultural forms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-thornton/art-needs-motives-that-are-more-profound-than-profit-if-it-is-to/) [Sarah Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-thornton/) > [Get to know two things about a man. How he earns his money and how he spends it. You will then have the clue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mccracken/get-to-know-two-things-about-a-man-how-he-earns-his-money-and-how-he/) [Robert McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mccracken/) > [I have always examined closely the motives of any group for which I am asked to raise money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-smith/i-have-always-examined-closely-the-motives-of-any-group-for-which-i/) [Kate Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-smith/) [Browse all 337 Motives quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motives/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Looking back through the last page or two, I see that I have made it appear as though my motives in writing were wholly public-spirited. I don’t want to leave that as the final impression. All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. For all one knows that demon is simply the same instinct that makes a baby squall for attention. And yet it is also true that one can write nothing readable unless one constantly struggles to efface one’s own personality. Good prose is like a windowpane. I cannot say with certainty which of my motives are the strongest, but I know which of them deserve to be followed. 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