This is so very well said, Ben. I've also been in situations where someone has asked me why I write, and I've tried to explain many of these very same things (though in a far less eloquent and succinct manner than you've done here). The idea that you express of immortalizing thoughts in particular stands out to me, as when I read great authors - many of them long dead - their words are still just as poignant and alive as when they were first written, and it's maybe the closest to traveling through time that we can get.