"Learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot or will not exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed."

25 likes

Source: This Is Water. David Foster Wallace's commencement speech at Kenyon College, www.youtube.com. May 21, 2005.

About the author

David Foster Wallace

Writer

David Foster Wallace was an influential American writer known for his complex narratives and deep explorations of truth and anxiety, particularly in 'Infinite Jest.'

All quotes by David Foster Wallace →

Same author

More quotes by David Foster Wallace

See all →

"Am I a good person? Deep down, do I even really want to be a good person, or do I only want to seem like a good person so that people (including myself) will approve of me? Is there a difference? How do I ever actually know whether I'm bullshitting myself, morally speaking?"

Read quote