I claim that the fact that we are strongly encouraged to identify with characters for whom death is not a significant creative possibly has real costs. We the audience, and individual you over there and me right here, lose any sense of eschatology, thus of teleology, and live in a moment that is, paradoxically, both emptied of intrinsic meaning or end and quite literally ETERNAL. If we're the only animals who know in advance we're going to die, we're also probably the only animals who would submit so cheerfully to the sustained denial of this undeniable and very important truth. The danger is that, as entertainment's denials of the truth get even more effective and pervasive and seductive, we will eventually forget what they're denials OF. This is scary. Because it seems transparent to me that, if we forget how to die, we're going to forget how to live.
David Foster Wallace
Related I like to open for a band as it brings on sort of a challenge and it makes things more interesting. ... KELLY JONES Each of us views life through a different lens. What we think is colored by the baggage we carry, an... LAURIE BUCHANAN, PHD The Biggest Threat to our Democracy, Freedoms and Future is Leadership that fosters and Appeases the... MICHAEL HARRIS I think that many people will intentionally overlook all of the lifeless facts about their relations... C. JOYBELL C. Empathy is the new measurement of everything. It doesn't matter what religion you have, what God you... C. JOYBELL C. How should I know?" said Alice, surprised at her own courage. "It's no business of mine." The Q... LEWIS CARROLL Convinced that we're living the whole time that we're dying. We decide to go out walking the wh... TEGAN QUIN Food Allergies Are Not Due to Food, Rather Are Due to the Constant Contamination of That Food That Y... THEHEALTHFOODGURU That's why we seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and hold it. EMINEM Clay in the hands of a good potter suffers so many good turns, but in the end, we see its real and t... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH In the journey of life, certain paths may seem to be leading nowhere because of a mountain or hill o... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Use your heart. Understand. Learn to see things in the now, not as they were or will be, or as ... E.J. PATTEN The unfortunate thing is that, sometimes, we slip, but, fortunately, consciously or unconsciously, w... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH The earth is an arena of champions. We are all champions. We all did overcome millions of potential ... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Anything man can make, man can destroy. JONATHAN ANTHONY BURKETT I maintain music is not here to make us forget about life. It's also here to teach us about life... DANIEL BARENBOIM How do you know if something is real? That’s easy. Does it change you? Does it form you? Does it g... C. JOYBELL C. Wake up to a brand new day and realize why you woke up to meet the day! Live to the end of another d... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH The love you get, is equal to the love you give. BEN OAK Here is one fact 1 minute to finish the class, 1 day to die, one day behind that fact, one day in th... DEYTH BANGER Now is the only time we have, and the only time we have any control over. RICHARD CARLSON May I never neither turn left nor turn right in my journey of life, but may I go straight to Christ ... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Now is the only time we have, and the only time that we have any control over. RICHARD CARLSON He is the God who loved you so much that His Son stripped Himself of all heavenly glory to live as a... CRAIG GROESCHEL See the world as it is, not as you wish it would be E. LOCKHART We have tears in our eyes As we wave our goodbyes, We so loved being with you, we three. ROALD DAHL The battle is not physical, it is spiritual and your mind is the battleground. Keep your mind pure a... JEANETTE CORON We sang the song as children of the mystery that we hoped to one day comprehend and now, at last, we... MISHI MCCOY There is truth in stories,” said Arthur. “There is truth in one of your paintings, boy or in a s... CASSANDRA CLARE All I ever did to that apartment was hang fifty yards of yellow theatrical silk across the bedroom w... JOAN DIDION We can never make proper goodbyes. It was your last ride in a Checker cab and you had no warning. It... COLSON WHITEHEAD 35. God is entitled to a portion of our income—not because He needs it but because we need to give... JAMES C. DOBSON Friendship is a double-edged sword one side it can be great and true but the other side it spells be... GARY F EVANS... You're afraid of getting hurt like I'm afraid to die. It doesn't mean I'm not going to live every da... VI KEELAND I am often asked how it is that I am able to value people to such a deep degree. Apparently, I exhib... C. JOYBELL C. The first and foremost human right or fundamental right is the right to exist. APURVA GAGLANI Life is not a game. Still, in this life, we choose the games we live to play. J.R. RIM I thank God for schools that are serious about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are vital to perpetu... JAMES C. DOBSON She said, "Right now, while we have this time, I'm not going to do any of that other stuff. I'm goin... CRAIG GROESCHEL Beauty fades, but knowledge is eternal ANDREW FAIRCHILD Each man lives in his own universe and when he dies the world is over BANGAMBIKI HABYARIMANA A big sacrifice is coming, and you won't have the courage to make it. That will cost you dearly. It ... RICK RIORDAN We need to embrace every day and enjoy it as much as we can. KAREN TODD SCARPULLA Don't forget that we lawyers, we're a higher breed of intellect, and so it's our privilege to lie. I... YEVGENY ZAMYATIN Pastor Smith did not have the religious constitution needed to provide salvation for any of us who�... CHERYL R COWTAN The Bible consistently and directly indicates that when we give generously, we're serving, honoring,... CRAIG GROESCHEL I'm always highly irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It i... FLANNERY O'CONNOR Hard to restrain, unstable is this mind; it flits wherever it lists. Good it is to control the mind.... GAUTAMA BUDDHA If we're honest with ourselves, most of us know the one thing we lack. CRAIG GROESCHEL I don't know if I have a favorite color. KATE MIDDLETON It's very special having a new little girl. KATE MIDDLETON Wake every morning with the same feeling. Live up high and fly on top of the ceiling. I just know th... ANA CLAUDIA ANTUNES Preparation is good for success and it is a noble thing to prepare excellently for success, but in r... ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH What if good institutions were in fact the product of good intentions? What if the cynicism that is ... MARILYNNE ROBINSON Cathy's lies were never innocent. Their purpose was to escape punishment, or work, or responsibility... JOHN STEINBECK There are different paths to your destination. Choose your own path. LAILAH GIFTY AKITA And now brothers, I will ask you a terrible question, and God knows I ask it also of myself. Is the ... FREDERICK BUECHNER What is it that makes you so angry, bothers you so deeply, that you're compelled to act? CRAIG GROESCHEL As our lives speed up more and more, so do our children's. We forget and thus they forget that there... MICHAEL GURIAN Life is a competition to eliminate fear and doubts to double our life to live better not bitter in t... NAZIM AMBALATH Leave the problems of God to God and karma to karma. Today you're here and nothing you do will chang... JAMES CLAVELL Most of us think we're too busy or too important to rest for a day. CRAIG GROESCHEL The fear of God is the only cure for the fear of people. CRAIG GROESCHEL Orion is above the horizon now, and near it Jupiter, brighter than it will ever be ... But i expect ... THOMAS HARRIS The secret of life is not in the Die And Live, The secret of life is Don't ever lose your sense... SUSHIL SINGH If you pour everything you have into this life, this world, which is temporary and fading, you're je... CRAIG GROESCHEL The end is the matter! A step to the end is a factor! ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH I'm asking God to bless you with something that unsettles you, disturbs you, and upsets you. CRAIG GROESCHEL There are so many works of the mind, so much humanity, that to disburden ourselves of ourselves is a... MARILYNNE ROBINSON Sometimes it took death for me to see life, don't live with regrets keep your head high. In a ... PUERTO RICAN PRINCESS Jenny and I once talked about how we manage to live despite the knowledge that we are all going to d... STEVEN ROWLEY Truth is irrelevant. What is relevant is whether or not they believe it." The logic in th... SARAH MACLEAN I have this running quandary about Christmas. I get upset about it, because I feel that we American ... ROBERT MACCOLL ADAMS I have argued that this sort of thinking is problematic in at least two regards: First, t... GARY L. FRANCIONE The truth is we don't know the truth. We just live and learn how to tell the truth because we were b... AULIQ ICE LIFE AND LIVE:
“ You only live once but if you live it fullest then once is enough. It is never a ... DR. SHAILESH THAKER I never say "If I were her, this is how I would have acted, this is what I would have done, etc. etc... C. JOYBELL C. I realized that day that blessings come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes. CRAIG GROESCHEL One particularly poor argument in defence of eating meat is that if humans did not eat animals, thos... DAVID BENATAR The things i know now, i never knew then. I wish i knew. SOTONYE ANGA The Imperial Senate, ever conscious of the weight of public opinion resting on the tip of the pencil... CHRISTINA ENGELA He is not a tame lion," said Tirian. "How should we know what he would do? We, who are murderers. Je... C.S. LEWIS You will die. You will not live forever. Nor will any man nor any thing. Nothing is immortal. But on... URSULA K. LE GUIN Do you so love the truth and the right that you welcome, or at least submit willingly to, the idea o... GEORGE MACDONALD To be or not to be that is the question. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Life is your teacher. How can you learn to understand your truth, if you deny your reality? LORRAINE NILON Vents were added to the rear bonnet in 1972 and resulted in wet engines and starting problems, and t... CHRISTINA ENGELA While both these statements refer to eggs, the main difference between these two rather irking state... CHRISTINA ENGELA Carol and I were so sure we were going to die in that storm. We were never in anything like it befor... DAISY BLACK We may claim to believe in God, but we don't want to believe so much that it makes us different. CRAIG GROESCHEL You and I were different. We came from different worlds, and yet you were the one how taught me the ... NICHOLAS SPARKS Entrepreneur, you're either raising the bar of excellence or, you're exhaling at the bar which is ex... ONYI ANYADO Another year is ending, but something is pending ERNEST AGYEMANG YEBOAH Yes, even in your mouse moods you only play with the idea of not being." She cleared her throat agai... AIDEN CHAMBERS Yes, even in your mouse moods you only play with the idea of not being." She cleared her throat agai... AIDAN CHAMBERS Perhaps the best cure for the fear of death is to reflect that life has a beginning as well as an en... WILLIAM HAZLITT Boring people live boring lives. HABEEB AKANDE Today we have to learn all over again that love for the sinner and love for the person who has been ... POPE BENEDICT XVI She is sugar, curiosity, and rain. E. LOCKHART The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. 2. Fo... MORRIE SCHWARTZ
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DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Trying to be anti-cool is just one exponent off trying to be cool -- it's the same beast. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Then he looked up, despite all best prior intentions. In four minutes, it would be another hour; a h... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE ...you are excused from doing the work of constructing the fantasy. The ads do it for you. The ads, ... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE The key is the ability, whether innate or conditioned, to find the other side of the rote, the picay... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Advertising that makes fun of itself is so powerful because it implicitly congratulates both it... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE This appetite to choose death by pleasure if it is available to choose - this appetite of your peopl... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Lenore, it's simply that I love you. You know that. Every fiber of your being is loved by every fibe... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Supongo que ser tímido significa básicamente estar absorbido por uno mismo hasta el punto de que s... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE If you can think of times in your life that you've treated people with extraordinary decency and lov... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Eyes the broad-shouldered faceless character that symbolizes Men’s Room, does Sternberg, and strug... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE When something large and oncoming passed, the windshield's big rectangle was for a moment incandesce... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE I am fortunately an entirely handsome devil and appear even younger than twenty-nine. I look like a ... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE But and so things are slow, and like you they have this irritating suspicion that any real satisfact... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Sometimes, when I don't think about it, I think I have just totally escaped the Bad Thing, and that ... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE If I’m hanging out with you, I can’t even tell whether I like you or not because I’m too worri... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE I'm not saying that television is vulgar and dumb because the people who compose the Audience are vu... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE JAY: No really. Be secure. Pretend I'm a sperm cell. Here. I take the string out of the... hood of m... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE The reasons that center on others are easy to manipulate. All hollow things are light. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms nearly always shoo... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Te occidere possunt sed te edere possunt nefas est. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Il suicidio è così contrario a tanti nostri istinti e impulsi programmati che nessuno sano di ment... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Blue Springs Memorial Hospital Palliative Care Unit, Independence, Mo. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE The truth is you've already heard this. That this is what it's like. That it's what makes room for t... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE It is a fact of life that certain people are corrosive to others’ self esteem simply as a function... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE She smelled of talcum powder and Big Red. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE It's not that words or human language stop having any meaning or relevance after you die, by the way... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE ...this was depressing, much the way discovering that somebody is easy to manipulate is always a lit... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE The fraud part of me was always there, just as a puzzle piece, objectively speaking, is a true piece... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE I don't think he was used to patients who were already aware of what their real problem was. He was ... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE The almost-35-year-old Terry Schmidt had very nearly nothing left anymore of the delusion that he di... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE -when he thinks of the starry-eyed puerility and narcissism of these fantasies now, a rough decade l... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE *One clue that there’s something not quite real about sequential time the way you experience it i... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Atwater knew — as did everyone at Style, though by some strange unspoken consensus it was never sa... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE The reality is that dying isn’t bad, but it takes forever. And that forever is no time at all. I k... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE (..)-Dr. G. would later say that the whole "my whole life flashed before me" phenomenon at the end i... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Even as I wrote my note to Fern, for instance, expressing sentiments and regrets that were real, a p... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE If I understand you right,' he says, 'you're saying that you're basically a calculating manipulative... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE It is a fact of life that certain people are corrosive to others' self esteem simply as a function o... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE What teachers and the administration in that era never seemed to see was that the mental work of wha... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE The truth is you already know what it's like. You already know the difference between the size and s... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Hell hath no fury like a coolly received postmodernist. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE You know, the whole thing about perfectionism. The perfectionism is very dangerous. Because of cours... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE When he smoked marijuana he tended to masterbate a great deal. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE I like the fans’ sound at night. Do you? It’s like somebody big far away goes like: it’sOKit�... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE How odd I can have all this inside me and to you it’s just words. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Here is how to turn down an extramural date so you won't be asked again. Say something like I'm terr... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE the patriotic or religious bumper stickers always seem to be on the biggest, most disgustingly selfi... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE This, of course, is because today’s postfeminist era is also today’s postmodern era, in which su... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE You don’t have to think very hard to realize that our dread of both relationships and loneliness �... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE We're kind of wishing some parents would come back. And of course we're uneasy about the fac... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE Pleasure becomes a value, a teleological end in itself. It's probably more Western than U.S. per... DAVID FOSTER WALLACE The other half is to dramatize the fact that we still 'are' human beings, now. Or can be. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE