'Driven to communicate'

 

“A writer writes not because he is educated but because he is driven by the need to communicate. Behind the need to communicate is the need to share. Behind the need to share is the need to be understood.” – Leo Rosten

 

Born in Poland on April 11, 1908 Rosten became an American novelist, scriptwriter and humorist who also had a deep interest in the relationship of politics and the media and the intricacies of their connections. 

 

Rosten emigrated to and grew up in New York City, started writing at age 9 and worked his way through all levels of school, including earning a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.  An economist, he did a series of government information jobs during WWII but gravitated to writing doing screenplays, then feature writer and essays for Look Magazine for nearly 25 years. 

 

Fascinated by the power of of well-placed words, he once noted, “Words must surely be counted among the most powerful drugs man ever invented.”

 

Rosten died in 1997 but his quotes live on, including one of his most famous – a version of which is often misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.  "The purpose of life is not to be happy.  It is to be useful, to be honorable.  It is to be compassionate.  It is to matter; to have it make some difference that you lived."