Five Difficulties in Writing the Truth (1935).By Bertolt Brecht.
Nowadays, anyone who wishes to combat lies and ignorance and to write the truth must overcome at
least five difficulties. He must have the courage to write the truth when truth is everywhere opposed; the
keenness to recognize it, although it is everywhere concealed; the skill to manipulate it as a weapon; the
judgment to select those in whose hands it will be effective; and the cunning to spread the truth among
such persons. These are formidable problems for writers living under Fascism, but they exist also for
those writers who have fled or been exiled; they exist even for writers working in countries where civil
liberty prevails.
