It seems important to find ways of reminding ourselves that most familiarity is meditated and delusive.

Quote by David Foster Wallace

Topics: David Foster Wallace Quotes

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...

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....

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

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

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...

This might be one way to start talking about differences between the early postmodern writers...

This might be one way to start talking about differences between the early postmodern writers...

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...

What TV is extremely good at - and realize that this is all it does...

What TV is extremely good at - and realize that this is all it does...

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.

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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....

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...

We're kind of wishing some parents would come back. And of course we're uneasy about...

We're kind of wishing some parents would come back. And of course we're uneasy about...

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.

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...

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...

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...