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

Quote by David Foster Wallace

Topics: Self Conscious Quotes

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...

Rap's conscious response to the poverty and oppression of U.S. blacks is like some hideous...

Rap's conscious response to the poverty and oppression of U.S. blacks is like some hideous...

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

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

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...

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 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.

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

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

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...

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...

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....

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....

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...