Valéry begins his lifelong notebooks
Poet involved
What happened
In Paris in 1894, Valéry began the first of the extensive notebooks in which he recorded his daily observations, calculations and reflections. He continued this practice for more than fifty years, eventually producing hundreds of notebooks. The habit became one of the most sustained intellectual practices of his life.
Literary impact
The notebooks provided the private workshop from which Valéry's mature philosophy of mind, language and artistic creation developed. They also exemplified his conviction that thought could be examined and trained through deliberate, repeated intellectual work rather than passive inspiration.
Source: Wikipedia
