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David Foster Wallace Quotes

Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is? Picture Quote #1

It now lately sometimes seemed a black miracle to me that people could actually care deeply about a subject or pursuit, and could go on caring this way for years on end. Could dedicate their entire lives to it. It seemed admirable and at the same time pathetic. We are all dying to give our lives away to something, maybe Picture Quote #1

My whole life I’ve been a fraud. I’m not exaggerating. Pretty much all I’ve ever done all the time is try to create a certain impression of me in other people. Mostly to be liked or admired. It’s a little more complicated than that, maybe. But when you come right down to it it’s to be liked, loved. Admired, approved of, applauded, whatever. You get the idea Picture Quote #1

Or I can choose to force myself to consider the likelihood that everyone else in the supermarket’s checkout line is just as bored and frustrated as I am, and that some of these people probably have much harder, more tedious or painful lives than I do, overall Picture Quote #1

Most of the writers I know are weird hybrids. There’s a strong streak of egomania coupled with extreme shyness. Writing’s kind of like exhibitionism in private. And there’s also a strange loneliness, and a desire to have some kind of conversation with people, but not a real great ability to do it in person Picture Quote #1

I will probably write an hour a day and spend eight hours a day biting my knuckle and worrying about not writing Picture Quote #1

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For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be like shutting off a fire alarm while the fire’s still going Picture Quote #1

I often think I can see it in myself and in other young writers, this desperate desire to please coupled with a kind of hostility to the reader Picture Quote #1

The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them so we can see the flaws and hypocrisies and duplicates Picture Quote #1

It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire you instead of an exercise in creative art Picture Quote #1

The way I think about things and experience things is not particularly linear, and it’s not orderly, and it’s not pyramidical, and there are a lot of loops Picture Quote #1

I think the only thing for me, the tricky thing with the footnotes, is that they are an irritant, and they require a little extra work, and so they either have to be really germane or they have to be kind of fun to read Picture Quote #1

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If you worship power, you will feel weak and afraid, needing ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay Picture Quote #1

America, as everybody knows, is a country of many contradictions, and a big contradiction for a long time has been between a very aggressive form of capitalism and consumerism against what might be called a kind of moral or civic impulse Picture Quote #1

My personal belief is that because technology and economic logic has gotten so sophisticated, cruelties can be perpetrated now that would have been unimaginable two or three hundred years ago Picture Quote #1

I tend to think of fiction as being mainly about characters and human beings and inner experience, whereas essays can be much more expository and didactic and more about subjects or ideas Picture Quote #1

If some people read my fiction and see it as fundamentally about philosophical ideas, what it probably means is that these are pieces where the characters are not as alive and interesting as I meant them to be Picture Quote #1

The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day Picture Quote #1

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Whatever you get paid attention for is never what you think is most important about yourself Picture Quote #1

I had kind of a midlife crisis at twenty which probably doesn’t augur well for my longevity Picture Quote #1

Does somebody have an explanation why there’s human flesh on the hall window upstairs? Picture Quote #1

I never, even for a moment, doubted what they’d told me. This is why it is that adults and even parents can, unwittingly, be cruel: they cannot imagine doubt’s complete absence. They have forgotten Picture Quote #1

And he wishes, in the cold quiet of his archer’s heart, that he himself could feel the intensity of their reconciliations as strongly as he feels that of their battles Picture Quote #1

To make someone an icon is to make him an abstraction, and abstractions are incapable of vital communication with living people Picture Quote #1

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The parts of me that used to think I was different or smarter or whatever, almost made me die Picture Quote #1

I believe I want adult sanity, which seems to me the only unalloyed form of heroism available today Picture Quote #1

Worship your body, beauty, and sexual allure and you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you Picture Quote #1

We’re all lonely for something we don’t know we’re lonely for. How else to explain the curious feeling that goes around feeling like missing somebody we’ve never even met? Picture Quote #1

Tell them there are no holes for your fingers in the masks of men. Tell them how could you ever even hope to love what you can’t grab onto Picture Quote #1

I’d like to be the sort of person who can enjoy things at the time, instead of having to go back in my head and enjoy them Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is? (David Foster Wallace Quotes) It now lately sometimes seemed a black miracle to me that people could actually care deeply about a subject or pursuit, and could go on caring this way for years on end. Could dedicate their entire lives to it. It seemed admirable and at the same time pathetic. We are all dying to give our lives away to something, maybe (David Foster Wallace Quotes) My whole life I’ve been a fraud. I’m not exaggerating. Pretty much all I’ve ever done all the time is try to create a certain impression of me in other people. Mostly to be liked or admired. It’s a little more complicated than that, maybe. But when you come right down to it it’s to be liked, loved. Admired, approved of, applauded, whatever. You get the idea (David Foster Wallace Quotes) Or I can choose to force myself to consider the likelihood that everyone else in the supermarket’s checkout line is just as bored and frustrated as I am, and that some of these people probably have much harder, more tedious or painful lives than I do, overall (David Foster Wallace Quotes) Most of the writers I know are weird hybrids. There’s a strong streak of egomania coupled with extreme shyness. Writing’s kind of like exhibitionism in private. And there’s also a strange loneliness, and a desire to have some kind of conversation with people, but not a real great ability to do it in person (David Foster Wallace Quotes) I will probably write an hour a day and spend eight hours a day biting my knuckle and worrying about not writing (David Foster Wallace Quotes) For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be like shutting off a fire alarm while the fire’s still going (David Foster Wallace Quotes) I often think I can see it in myself and in other young writers, this desperate desire to please coupled with a kind of hostility to the reader (David Foster Wallace Quotes) The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them so we can see the flaws and hypocrisies and duplicates (David Foster Wallace Quotes) It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire you instead of an exercise in creative art (David Foster Wallace Quotes) The way I think about things and experience things is not particularly linear, and it’s not orderly, and it’s not pyramidical, and there are a lot of loops (David Foster Wallace Quotes) I think the only thing for me, the tricky thing with the footnotes, is that they are an irritant, and they require a little extra work, and so they either have to be really germane or they have to be kind of fun to read (David Foster Wallace Quotes) If you worship power, you will feel weak and afraid, needing ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay (David Foster Wallace Quotes) America, as everybody knows, is a country of many contradictions, and a big contradiction for a long time has been between a very aggressive form of capitalism and consumerism against what might be called a kind of moral or civic impulse (David Foster Wallace Quotes) My personal belief is that because technology and economic logic has gotten so sophisticated, cruelties can be perpetrated now that would have been unimaginable two or three hundred years ago (David Foster Wallace Quotes) I tend to think of fiction as being mainly about characters and human beings and inner experience, whereas essays can be much more expository and didactic and more about subjects or ideas (David Foster Wallace Quotes) If some people read my fiction and see it as fundamentally about philosophical ideas, what it probably means is that these are pieces where the characters are not as alive and interesting as I meant them to be (David Foster Wallace Quotes) The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day (David Foster Wallace Quotes) Whatever you get paid attention for is never what you think is most important about yourself (David Foster Wallace Quotes) I had kind of a midlife crisis at twenty which probably doesn’t augur well for my longevity (David Foster Wallace Quotes) Does somebody have an explanation why there’s human flesh on the hall window upstairs? (David Foster Wallace Quotes) I never, even for a moment, doubted what they’d told me. This is why it is that adults and even parents can, unwittingly, be cruel: they cannot imagine doubt’s complete absence. They have forgotten (David Foster Wallace Quotes) And he wishes, in the cold quiet of his archer’s heart, that he himself could feel the intensity of their reconciliations as strongly as he feels that of their battles (David Foster Wallace Quotes) To make someone an icon is to make him an abstraction, and abstractions are incapable of vital communication with living people (David Foster Wallace Quotes) The parts of me that used to think I was different or smarter or whatever, almost made me die (David Foster Wallace Quotes) I believe I want adult sanity, which seems to me the only unalloyed form of heroism available today (David Foster Wallace Quotes) Worship your body, beauty, and sexual allure and you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you (David Foster Wallace Quotes) We’re all lonely for something we don’t know we’re lonely for. How else to explain the curious feeling that goes around feeling like missing somebody we’ve never even met? (David Foster Wallace Quotes) Tell them there are no holes for your fingers in the masks of men. Tell them how could you ever even hope to love what you can’t grab onto (David Foster Wallace Quotes) I’d like to be the sort of person who can enjoy things at the time, instead of having to go back in my head and enjoy them (David Foster Wallace Quotes)

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