TV's eal agenda is to be liked, because if you like what you're seeing, you'll stay tuned. TV is completely unabashed about this; it's its sole raison.

Quote by David Foster Wallace

Topics: David Foster Wallace Quotes

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...

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 is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside.

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

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.

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...

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...

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

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

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.

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

It looks like you can write a minimalist piece without much bleeding. And you can....

It looks like you can write a minimalist piece without much bleeding. And you can....

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 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...

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.

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...

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...

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...