Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking. Inaction, save as a measure of recuperation between bursts of activity, is painful and dangerous to the healthy organism - in fact, it is almost impossible. Only the dying can he really idle. Writing books is certainly a most unpleasant occupation. It is lonesome, unsanitary, and maddening.
Many authors go crazy.
Scroll down for sources of quotations and special search engines. See also CQ's recommended links to biographical websites Mencken Search the Web. Keith Mohler, 1994. Richard Shea, 1993. Robert Byrne, 1990.