The thing that drove Dickens forward into a form of art for which he was not really suited, and at the same time caused us to remember him, was simply the fact that he was a moralist, the consciousness of “having something to say.” He is always preaching a sermon, and that is the final secret of his inventiveness. For you can only create if you can care.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]

Essay (1939), “Charles Dickens,” sec. 6, Inside the Whale (1940-03-11)
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