You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do.
David Foster WallaceRead
I knew my limitations and the limitations of the courts I played on, and adjusted thusly. I was at my best in bad conditions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Recognizing and adapting to one's limitations can lead to success even in challenging situations.
In this quote, David Foster Wallace reflects on the importance of self-awareness and adaptability. He acknowledges his own limitations as well as those of his environment, suggesting that truly successful individuals learn to navigate through difficulties and still perform at their best, even when conditions are not ideal. This mindset encourages resilience and the ability to thrive despite obstacles.
Themes
LimitationsAdaptabilityResilienceSuccessSelf-Awareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
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.
David Foster WallaceRead
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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