You have a great deal of yourself on the line, writing- your vanity is at stake. You discover a tricky thing about fiction writing; a certain amount of vanity is necessary to be able to do it all, but any vanity above that certain amount is lethal. David Foster Wallace More Quotes by David Foster Wallace More Quotes From David Foster Wallace What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny little part of it at any given instant. David Foster Wallace tiny goes-on littles My worst character flaw that I'm conscious of is that I tend to think my way into circles instead of resolving anything. It's paralyzing and boring for people around me. David Foster Wallace circles character thinking The man who knows his limitations, has none. David Foster Wallace limitation knows men The parts of me that used to think I was different or smarter or whatever, almost made me die. David Foster Wallace used different thinking Fiction becomes a weird way to countenance yourself and to tell the truth instead of being a way to escape yourself or present yourself in a way you figure you will be maximally likable. David Foster Wallace writing way fiction Good writing isn’t a science. It’s an art, and the horizon is infinite. You can always get better. David Foster Wallace get-better writing art It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. David Foster Wallace pay attention mean It is tragic and sad and chaotic and lovely. All life is the same, as citizens of the human State: the animating limits are within, to be killed and mourned, over and over again. David Foster Wallace lovely citizens limits People, unless they're paying attention, tend to confuse fanciness with intelligence or authority. David Foster Wallace pay-attention attention people Acceptance is usually more a matter of fatigue than anything else. David Foster Wallace fatigue acceptance matter There is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness. David Foster Wallace anxiety-attacks infinite-jest kindness I wish you way more than luck. David Foster Wallace luck wish way I'll say God seems to have a kind of laid-back management style I'm not crazy about. I'm pretty much anti-death. God looks by all accounts to be pro-death. I'm not seeing how we can get together on this issue, he and I. David Foster Wallace issues style crazy Stay conscious and alive, day in and day out. David Foster Wallace alive conscious Fiction, poetry, music...these are the places (for me) where loneliness is countenanced, stared down, transfigured, treated. David Foster Wallace treated loneliness fiction Real leaders are people who “help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own. David Foster Wallace leader real people If you're automatically sure that you know what reality is and who and what is really important - if you want to operate on your default-setting - then you, like me, will not consider possibilities that aren't pointless and annoying. David Foster Wallace important want reality It took years after I’d graduated from Amherst to realize that people were actually far more complicated and interesting than books, that almost everyone else suffered the same secret fears and inadequacies as I, and that feeling alone and inferior was actually the great valent bond between us all. I wish I’d been smart enough to understand that when I was an adolescent. David Foster Wallace smart book years Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it. David Foster Wallace addiction letting-go inspirational Most of the writers I know are weird hybrids. There's a strong streak of egomania coupled with extreme shyness. Writing's kind of like exhibitionism in private. And there's also a strange loneliness, and a desire to have some kind of conversation with people, but not a real great ability to do it in person. David Foster Wallace loneliness strong real
