A Timely Advice Only An Author Can Give

In his Graduation Speech to Syracuse University Class of 2013, George Saunders, author, dispatched a simple yet a very timely advice.

No matter how successful and ambitious you are, he said, in the end what matter the most is kindness. So, he urged, be kind. Start now.

Saunders graduated as a Geophysical Engineering major from my alma mater, Colorado School of Mines and had worked in the oil and gas industry in the island of Sumatra before an illness forced him out of it.  During a reading session at Mines that I have had a pleasure to attend, he claimed that he had never liked the job anyway.

He changed course; he opted for writing, obtained an MA in Creative Writing from Syracuse, got published then onwards to teaching creative writing at his new alma mater (not necessarily in that order). His latest collection of short stories, Tenth of December was recently dubbed by New York Times as "the best book you'll read this year (2013)".

Indeed, he is an inspiration.

The full speech ("Congratulations, by the way" and all) can be read here.
Saunders' short story Tenth of December was published in the New Yorker and can be read here.
The article on "the best book you'll read this year" is here.

And oh, the entry I wrote about attending his reading at Mines a lifetime ago is here.