Satirist Kurt Vonnegut gave great advice in the latest episode of PBS Digital Studios' "Blank on Blank," according to the Huffington Post. The novelist, widely known for his best-selling "Slaughterhouse-Five," can be heard giving advice on the art of writing in the series, reported Mashable.
The Vonnegut lecture was discovered in a 1970 talk that he gave to NYU students, noted Brain Pickings magazine. In the segment, he also talked about his parents and man-eating lampreys, which were featured in his short story "The Big Space F--k."
"I am now older than George Orwell when he died," Vonnegut said. "I’ll soon be older than Jack Kerouac when he died. Anyway, I've wondered why all these people kill themselves and I think that writers, creative writers, are in the process of becoming. They are humanity becoming."
The beloved American novelist advises:
1. It's important to stand up for what you believe in.
The novelist speaks up for his banned books in a letter to the head of school boards, saying, "If you were to bother to read my books, to behave as educated persons would, you would learn that they are not sexy, and do not argue in favor of wildness of any kind. They beg that people be kinder and more responsible than they often are. It is true that some of the characters speak coarsely. That is because people speak coarsely in real life."
2. Laughter can cure just about anything.
In a 1980 essay, "Hypocrites You Always Have With You," Vonnegut wrote that "Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion, to the futility of thinking and striving anymore. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward - and since I can start thinking and striving again that much sooner."
3. Kindness matters.
In a 1965 novel "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" Vonnegut welcomed babies to the world and advised, "At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies - God damn it, you’ve got to be kind."
Check out the video below:
