You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
David Foster WallaceRead
So which is the lie? Hard or soft? Silence or time?
Interpretation
The quote questions the nature of truth and deception in our perceptions of reality.
David Foster Wallace's quote encourages reflection on the complexities of truth and lies as they relate to the human experience. It prompts us to consider how we perceive hard versus soft truths, and whether silence or the passage of time can distort our understanding of reality. This philosophical inquiry suggests that our interpretations may be subjective and influenced by various factors, leading to deeper questions about knowledge and belief.
In practice
During a philosophical discussion about reality versus perception.
You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
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.
It seems important to find ways of reminding ourselves that most 'familiarity' is meditated and delusive.
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.
Acceptance is usually more a matter of fatigue than anything else.
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.
The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light, just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning. Light within light...It seems to me to be a metaphor for the human soul, the singular light within that great general light of existence.
Humans were denied the speech of animals. The only common ground of communication upon which dogs and men can get together is in fiction.
Perhaps the surest test of an individual's integrity is his refusal to do or say anything that would damage his self-respect.
The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of the word is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.
If our circumstances find us in God, we shall find God in all our circumstances.
When the emperor is crowned or the three dukes are appointed, rather than sending a gift of jade carried by four horses, remain still and offer the Way.
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