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In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.
David Foster Wallace
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote suggests that everyone holds beliefs or values, often treated as a form of worship, regardless of religious affiliation.

David Foster Wallace's quote addresses the idea that in our daily lives, we inevitably devote ourselves to something, whether it be a belief, ideology, or passion. He argues that atheism is not a true absence of worship but a choice of what one values and believes in. This reflection on devotion emphasizes that worship is not limited to religious contexts; it encompasses all aspects of life, urging us to be mindful of what we choose to elevate and prioritize.

Themes

WorshipBeliefsValuesDevotionPriorities

In practice

Example use cases

In a talk about personal values, one might say: 'As David Foster Wallace pointed out, we all have something we choose to worship in our lives.'

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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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