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That what appears to be egoism so often isn't.
David Foster Wallace
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Egoism may not be as self-centered as it seems.

This quote by David Foster Wallace suggests that what we often perceive as egoism or self-serving behavior may actually stem from deeper motivations or complexities within human nature. It challenges the superficial interpretation of actions and invites us to consider the underlying factors that contribute to how people act, emphasizing the nuanced nature of human relationships and intentions.

Themes

EgoismHuman NaturePerceptionSelflessnessBehavior

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about social behaviors in psychology.

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