You must Write, and Read, as if Your Life Depended on it

By: Adrienne Rich

Language is power... Language can be used as a means of changing reality.

—Adrienne Rich

You must write, and read, as if your life depended on it.

That is not generally taught in school. At most as if your livelihood depended on it: the next step, the next job, grant, scholarship, professional advancement fame; no questions asked as to further meanings.

And let’s face it, the lesson of the schools for a vast number of children—hence, of readers—is This is not for you.