You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing fiction is a way to explore and reveal our hidden truths.
David Foster Wallace's quote suggests that through the lens of fiction, writers can delve into their inner selves, uncovering aspects of their psyche that they might prefer to keep hidden. This exploration often reveals universal themes and emotions that resonate not only with the writer but also with readers, creating a shared understanding of the human experience.
Themes
WritingFictionSelf-DiscoveryTruthHuman Experience
In practice
Example use cases
A writer may quote this during a workshop to encourage fellow authors to dive deep into their emotions.
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
Acceptance is usually more a matter of fatigue than anything else.
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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
The great thing about irony is that it splits things apart, gets up above them so we can see the flaws and hypocrisies and duplicates.
David Foster WallaceRead
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