Vulnerability is not weakness, it's radical honesty.

晏子春秋

The safest way to try and get what you want is to try and deserve what you want. It’s such a simple idea. It’s the golden rule so to speak. You want to deliver to the world what you would buy if you were on the other end.

The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.