"One of the sanctions of the writer is that he is doing something that he needs to do."

- Wallace Stevens 

[who crafted a poem I’ve always enjoyed puzzling over: The Emperor of Ice Cream, available here.]

[Stevens was a lawyer turned insurance 
executive, living in Hartford, Connecticut (the “insurance capitol of the world") when in 1955 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. In its wake, he declined an offer to teach at Harvard. It would have interfered with his insurance-related duties.]

Thanks to David at The Passive Voice who recently shared a more extensive Stevens quote with his readers, revealing the excerpt I have used here. And to the Wallace Stevens article on Wikipedia, which I turned to to refresh my memory.