You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
David Foster WallaceRead
life's endless war against the self you cannot live without.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the internal struggle of self-acceptance and the continuous conflict we face within ourselves.
David Foster Wallace's quote encapsulates the idea that life is a perpetual battle against our own limitations and insecurities. The 'self you cannot live without' suggests that our identity is intertwined with these struggles, as they shape who we are. This ongoing war signifies the human experience of confronting one's flaws, desires, and the constant quest for self-improvement and understanding.
Themes
SelfStruggleIdentityConflictLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech discussing personal growth.
More from David Foster Wallace
All quotes βEverything 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.
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It seems important to find ways of reminding ourselves that most 'familiarity' is meditated and delusive.
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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.
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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 youβve never known will wash over you and just about kill you. Ride these out, and itβs like stepping from black and white into color. Like water after days in the desert. Instant bliss in every atom.
David Foster WallaceRead
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