Advice for a Writer, from Korea's Premier Living Author

from The Thoughts and Feelings of Korean People in
Literature:

There is an infinite universe beyond what we can see,
and we are all connected to it. Is creativity
possible in a world limited and framed by the certain
and the visible? Only copies would be produced. The
materialism which believes only the certain and the
visible has destroyed the earth. Living things,
abandoning themselves to the pleasures of hyper-
consumerism, are buried in garbage. Will writers
remain just as spectators of all this? Do they want
to enjoy the comforts of modern life, constantly
offered to us by civilisation? I am deeply grieved
by this. I assure you that there is no hope for our
times unless we respect other creatures. I told a
young person who wishes to become a writer: `Don't
try to write till you have overcome your narcissism
or self-interest, till you have been touched by
compassion for all living things.'

Park Kyong-Ni