“Creative people not infrequently experience periods of despair in which their ability to create anything new seems to have deserted them. This is often because a particular piece of work has become invested with such overwhelming importance that it is no longer possible to play with it. What Gibbon referred to as ‘The Vanity of Authors’ sometimes makes them regard their work with such desperate seriousness that ‘playing around’ with it becomes impossible. When this playful element disappears, joy goes with it, and so does any sense of being able to innovate.”
- Anthony Storr -
