You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
David Foster WallaceRead
What the really great artists do is they're entirely themselves. They're entirely themselves. They've got their own vision, they have their own way of fracturing reality, and if it's authentic and true, you will feel it in your nerve endings.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Great artists express their true selves and visions, creating authentic and impactful art.
David Foster Wallace emphasizes that the essence of truly great artists lies in their authenticity and individuality. By channeling their unique perspectives and interpreting reality in their own way, they evoke a profound emotional response in their audience, connecting deeply through their genuine expression.
Themes
ArtistsAuthenticityVisionRealityExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about what makes good art, this quote could be used to emphasize the importance of authenticity.
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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