He turned his eyes from her, paced up and down the room, and murmured, “Things cannot go on this way,” between his teeth. Lotte, who sensed the terrible state into which these words had plunged him, tried to divert his thought by all sorts of questions, but in vain.
“No Lotte,” he exclaimed, “I shall not see you again!”
“Why do you say that?” she replied, “Werther, you can, you must see us again, only be moderate. O, why must you be born with this vehemence, this unconquerably clinging passion for everything on which you once lay hold! I beg you,” she continued, taking him by the hand, “be more moderate!”
(The sufferings of young Werther, Goethe)
O, why can Werther not be more moderate? Why must be so relentless? Why does he fall, doubt, hurt, commit?
For the reason that he is Werther.
Let yourself be who you are, writer.
Suffering will come whether you do or whether you don’t.
Reasons to Keep Writing 
And in truth, is the suffering not lesser when we are ourselves?
Then again, maybe not lesser. Certainly there is pain, but in the same way that there is night, it is followed by the promise of sunrise. Whereas to suffer and be someone else, the world is upside down, and even though we may be lost in a pleasant illusion, pain is everywhere and dogs our every step.
Thank you again for this lovely inspiration to reflection!
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Also, thank you for reading my stories; it means a lot to me. As someone who had to fight to accept the idea of being a writer, and someone who still fights every day not to listen to the voices telling him not to be one, seeing that someone is reading is a lifeline. Thank you.
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I think we all fight that voice, every day, every time we pick up the pencil or sit at the keys. You’re in good company AGG.
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a great title; I like this post very much
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Thank you for reading. Apparently the outfit (a blue tailed coat, yellow waist-coat and trousers with high boots) was, for a time, favoured for fancy-dress parties and recognised as the costume of Werther.
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