Literary notes about Cacoethes (AI summary)
Writers use "cacoethes" to evoke an irresistible, often compulsive drive that can lead to both creative brilliance and overindulgence. In many texts, the term is paired with pursuits such as writing or speaking—seen in phrases like "cacoethes scribendi" ([1], [2], [3], [4]) and "cacoethes loquendi" ([5], [6])—to characterize an almost pathological enthusiasm for the craft. Its deployment extends beyond literary creation to capture compulsions in other fields, as when it refers to a fervent desire in needlework ([7]) or even in constructing edifices ([8]). This versatility in usage underscores how authors harness "cacoethes" to articulate the fine line between passion and obsession.
- “What! has the cacoethes scribendi seized you also, and tempted you into the commission of some little act of light literature?”
— from Lewis Arundel; Or, The Railroad Of Life by Frank E. (Frank Edward) Smedley - Cacoethes scribendi ( skrī-ben ´ dī ).—An itch for scribbling.
— from The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of Answers - But the cacoethes scribendi possesses me, and all my leisure hours are devoted to a Suite.
— from The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky by Modest Chaikovskii - Stormed by an attack of his cacoethes scribendi, after those few blank days at Becket, Felix saw nothing amiss with his young daughter.
— from The Freelands by John Galsworthy - C Cacoethes loquendi ( kak-o-ē ´ thēs lo-kwen ´ dī ).—An
— from The Circle of Knowledge: A Classified, Simplified, Visualized Book of Answers - As cool as you like old Peter replied, ' Cacoethes loquendi .'
— from Combed Out by F. A. (Frederick Augustus) Voigt - Among the rest she was seized with what we men call a cacoethes of the needle: “a raging desire” for work.
— from White Lies by Charles Reade - The cacoethes aedificandi is a familiar disease among country gentlemen.]
— from Roman Farm Management: The Treatises of Cato and Varro by Marcus Porcius Cato
