Going to the Well
“If people cannot write well, they cannot think well,
and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them.”
George Orwell
I’m not a person who’s drawn to quotes or prone to post spiritual messages on my wall, but this statement resonates with its many layers of meaning. It strikes to the heart of why writing matters, which, with all the possibilities for disappointment inherent in writing, is an idea that is easy to lose sight of.
The first part of the quote, “If people cannot write well, they cannot think well…” makes the connection between writing and thinking. But in a chicken/egg scenario, if one is a poor writer, is their poor writing the indicator that they are also a poor thinker? Or, given the syntax of his words, taken to their logical next level, does he suggest that the teaching of writing improves the writer’s own thinking ability?
Could it also be true that if a person cannot think well they cannot write well? Writing relies on many brain functions: organization and categorization, creativity, making connections between complex and disparate ideas, the ability to see rationally beyond one’s own point of view.
It’s easy to understand that the best writing comes from the best minds, and yet, the best minds are not guaranteed to produce the best writing.
Perhaps the relationship between writing and thinking is more symbiotic that rational.
The second part of the quote “and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them” has an ominous meaning and points to the consequences of a society without strong writers and thinkers. Moreover, it lays out the obligation for each individual to accept the responsibility to think and communicate well in order to safeguard their autonomy.
Writing, in any genre, in any format, in any outlet, is a fundamental component of an educated and informed society. The idea that others will do our thinking for us because we lack the ability or discipline or education to do these tasks for ourselves is a threat to our autonomy.
Because history teaches what happens when others do our thinking for us.
If you want to write well/think well here are some of Orwell’s more famous suggestions:
Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” 1946 (full text here)
