“One must have suffered much to write well about suffering.”Nicolas Chamfort · Maxime și cugetări · 1795 · Maxima 12
You cannot write about pain unless you have paid for it with your own experience.
Chamfort claims that literary empathy cannot be simulated; only those who have known pain can capture its nuances. Personal experience supplies the emotional vocabulary and perspective needed to avoid clichés. A poet who survived a serious illness can honestly portray the fears and hopes of that time, unlike someone who merely reads about suffering.
Why it matters It encourages writers to seek authenticity through introspection and real experience.