"In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write?"

This quote by Gao Xingjian talks to the value of self-affirmation for authors. He suggests that without self-affirmation, authors would not be able to continue writing. This is due to the fact that in the history of literature, there are many excellent works that were not published in the life times of the authors. This suggests that the authors did not get external validation for their work, yet they still managed to continue writing. This recommends that the authors need to have discovered some form of self-affirmation in order to keep composing. Gao Xingjian is emphasizing the significance of self-affirmation for authors, as it is what permits them to continue writing even when their work is not being recognized. He is suggesting that authors should not rely entirely on external validation, however ought to also discover ways to verify themselves in order to keep writing.