You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
David Foster WallaceRead
Like so many other nerdy, disaffected young people of that time, I dreamed of becoming an 'artist', i.e., somebody whose adult job was original and creative instead of tedious and dronelike.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a desire for a creative and fulfilling career rather than one that is monotonous and uninteresting.
David Foster Wallace reflects on the aspirations of a generation of young people who sought to escape the conventional, uninspiring paths of work. His yearning to become an artist highlights a broader longing for originality and creativity in one's adult life, emphasizing the struggle between societal expectations and personal passions.
Themes
ArtistCreativityDreamsCareerOriginality
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a graduation speech to inspire creative graduates to pursue their passions.
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.
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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.
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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 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
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