You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
David Foster WallaceRead
In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what's human and magical that still live and glow despite the times' darkness. Really good fiction could have as dark a worldview as it wished, but it'd find a way both to depict this world and to illuminate the possibilities for being alive and human in it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Good art reveals the enduring beauty of humanity even in difficult times.
In this quote, David Foster Wallace suggests that the essence of great art is its ability to highlight and revive the magical and humane aspects of life, even amidst chaos and darkness. Though fiction may explore bleak themes, the best narratives ultimately shine a light on the inherent possibilities of human existence, helping us recognize the beauty and resilience that persists in challenging circumstances.
Themes
ArtHumanityDarknessPossibilitiesFiction
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about creativity and resilience, this quote can be used to inspire artists.
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.
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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 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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