The reader becomes God, for all textual purposes. I see your eyes glazing over, so I'll hush.

Quote by David Foster Wallace

Topics: David Foster Wallace Quotes

We're not keen on the idea of the story sharing its valence with the reader....

We're not keen on the idea of the story sharing its valence with the reader....

Pleasure becomes a value, a teleological end in itself. It's probably more Western than U.S....

Pleasure becomes a value, a teleological end in itself. It's probably more Western than U.S....

I just think that fiction that isn't exploring what it means to be human today...

I just think that fiction that isn't exploring what it means to be human today...

I often think I can see it in myself and in other young writers, this...

I often think I can see it in myself and in other young writers, this...

To be willing to sort of die in order to move the reader, somehow. Even...

To be willing to sort of die in order to move the reader, somehow. Even...

The interesting thing is why we're so desperate for this anesthetic against loneliness.

The interesting thing is why we're so desperate for this anesthetic against loneliness.

One of the things that makes Wittgenstein a real artist to me is that he...

One of the things that makes Wittgenstein a real artist to me is that he...

The problem is that once the rules of art are debunked, and once the unpleasant...

The problem is that once the rules of art are debunked, and once the unpleasant...

I think TV promulgates the idea that good art is just art which makes people...

I think TV promulgates the idea that good art is just art which makes people...

It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire...

It can become an exercise in trying to get the reader to like and admire...

Nuclear weapons and TV have simply intensified the consequences of our tendencies, upped the stakes.

Nuclear weapons and TV have simply intensified the consequences of our tendencies, upped the stakes.

The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them...

The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them...

That no matter how smart you thought you were, you are actually way less smart...

That no matter how smart you thought you were, you are actually way less smart...

For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be...

For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be...

This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside.

This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside.

The other half is to dramatize the fact that we still are human beings, now....

The other half is to dramatize the fact that we still are human beings, now....

This diagnosis can be done in about two lines. It doesn't engage anybody.

This diagnosis can be done in about two lines. It doesn't engage anybody.

TV's eal agenda is to be liked, because if you like what you're seeing, you'll...

TV's eal agenda is to be liked, because if you like what you're seeing, you'll...

Fiction's about what it is to be a human being.

Fiction's about what it is to be a human being.

This is so American, man: either make something your God and cosmos and then worship...

This is so American, man: either make something your God and cosmos and then worship...