You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
David Foster WallaceRead
And when he came to, he was flat on his back on the beach in the freezing sand, and it was raining out of a low sky, and the tide was way out.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote evokes a sense of existential awareness and the harsh realities of life.
David Foster Wallace's quote captures a vivid moment of awakening, where the protagonist finds himself in a desolate and uncomfortable situation. The imagery of being flat on the cold beach in the rain symbolizes the struggle and harshness of reality, prompting reflection on one's circumstances and existence. It invites the reader to contemplate the disconnection and challenges faced in life, suggesting a deeper understanding of one’s own state of being.
Themes
ExistenceRealityAwakeningStruggleContemplation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a philosophical discussion about the nature of existence.
More from David Foster Wallace
All quotes →Everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe, the realest, most vivid and important person in existence.
David Foster WallaceRead
It seems important to find ways of reminding ourselves that most 'familiarity' is meditated and delusive.
David Foster WallaceRead
Under fun's new administration, writing fiction becomes a way to go deep inside yourself and illuminate precisely the stuff you don't want to see or let anyone else see, and this stuff usually turns out (paradoxically) to be precisely the stuff all writers and readers share and respond to, feel.
David Foster WallaceRead
Acceptance is usually more a matter of fatigue than anything else.
David Foster WallaceRead
Bliss - a-second-by-second joy and gratitude at the gift of being alive, conscious - lies on the other side of crushing, crushing boredom. Pay close attention to the most tedious thing you can find (Tax Returns, Televised Golf) and, in waves, a boredom like you’ve never known will wash over you and just about kill you. Ride these out, and it’s like stepping from black and white into color. Like water after days in the desert. Instant bliss in every atom.
David Foster WallaceRead
Similar quotes
God is silent. Now if only man would shut up.
Woody AllenRead
In Buddhist teaching, ignorance is considered the fundamental cause of violence - ignorance... about the separation of self and other... about the consequences of our actions.
Sharon SalzbergRead
Wretched men cringe before tyrants who have no power, the victims of their trivial hopes and fears. They do not realise that anger is hopeless, fear is pointless and desire all a delusion. He whose heart is fickle is not his own master, has thrown away his shield, deserted his post, and he forges the links of the chain that holds him.
BoethiusRead
There is a big difference between an honest mistake made in a moment of spiritual weakness and a willfull decision to disobey persistently the commandments of God. Those who deliberately choose to violate God's commandments or ignore the standards of the Church, even when promising themselves and others that someday they will be strong enough to repent, are stepping into a dangerously slippery slope upon which many have lost their spiritual footing.
M. Russell BallardRead
Wanderers eastward, wanderers west, Know you why you cannot rest? 'Tis that every mother's son Travails with a skeleton. Lie down in the bed of dust; Bear the fruit that bear you must; Bring the eternal seed to light, And morn is all the same as night.
A. E. HousmanRead
We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world - including in my own country.
Barack ObamaRead