Novelists always want to stay away from politics, but novels approach politics themselves.
Novelists always want to care about "human destiny", but forget to care about their own destiny. This is their tragedy.
——Stalin
If a writer blindly escapes reality just for the sake of being wise and protecting himself, and dares not write anything that criticizes the evils of the times, exposes the false, evil, and ugliness, and praises the true, the good, and the beautiful, then he is not a truly good writer.
If a Buddhist disciple only enjoys happiness for himself and does not seek relief from suffering for all sentient beings, then he is not a truly good Buddhist disciple!
I admire those great saints and bodhisattvas who truly serve all sentient beings wholeheartedly and who are brave and fearless and "see death as if they are home"!
——Zhao Feng