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This Is Water
This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life | David Foster Wallace
20 posts | 42 read | 36 to read
Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in THIS IS WATER. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend.Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.
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Coffeymuse
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A really great commencement speech by David Foster Wallace.

#Schoolspirit
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

Eggs He was amazing 🥲 2mo
16 likes1 comment
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WarandWar
Pickpick

The author is likely to go down as one of the modern era's great authors. He was a sarcastic, intelligent, elitist who knew it. He was also mentally ill, and unfortunately took his life. This book is the only graduation speech he gave, and the perspective he wishes you to take the world on with is likely the same one he struggled to follow. Short, poignant, and full of sharply written lines, its one of the best speeches you could read.

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JGadz11
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Always worth a re-read.💝

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allureofbeauty
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Panpan

Read for a book club.
Did not like it. At all.
This book is a huge waste of paper.
And it‘s a huge cliche we all already know.

Also the author is a bit of a abusive asshole.
Look up him and Mary Karr.
Hard pass.

#thisiswater #davidforestwallace #awful #bookclub #library #librarybookclub #cliche #boring #marykarr #wasteoftime #authorisanasshole

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Bibliotini
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Pickpick

This is a lovely book. Mr Wallace‘s only commencement speech. I‘ve read passages aloud to people who could benefit from his wise words.

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britt_brooke
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Pickpick

“‘Learning how to think‘ really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think.”

This is a quick little book of excerpts from the only commencement address #DFW ever gave. Worth a read!

PS. One of my 2018 goals is to read more DFW.

RedbagReadbooks I own several of his books and I have yet to read one. May have to check this out 7y
britt_brooke @Aluciddreamer It‘s a nice, quick read. I read, and loved, Infinite Jest earlier this year as part of a buddy read. It‘s worth every hour and every footnote, and completely changed the way I read. I still need to get to his others. 7y
RealBooks4ever Excellent goal! 👍📚💜 7y
See All 8 Comments
SkeletonKey I listen to this speech about once or twice a year just for the reminder 💜 7y
britt_brooke @SkeletonKey I need to listen to it sometime too. 👍🏻 7y
RedbagReadbooks @britt_brooke so many books so little time. 7y
124 likes9 stack adds8 comments
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britt_brooke
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So true. #DFW

Kendra.Diane Love this 💜 7y
Megabooks 👍🏻💜 7y
minkyb True. 7y
92 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Jess
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Pickpick

Just read this book while relaxing at B&N. My first DFW. Even though I read it in the store it will be coming home with me because I need to keep it close. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

GA_Bookworm07 Whats DFW? 7y
Jess @AvidBookWorm02 David Foster Wallace 7y
britt_brooke I picked this book up based on your review, but had forgotten what photo you posted along with it. I just posted the exact same quote. 😁 #greatminds 7y
Jess @britt_brooke it really is a great quote. I found this book full of wonderful lines. On a side note- I just realized you are my secret Santa! Thanks so much for the box. 7y
britt_brooke @Jess You are so welcome! I had a lot of fun shopping for you. 💚 7y
13 likes5 comments
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mauveandrosysky
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Twelve years ago today David Foster Wallace delivered one of the best commencement speeches of all time. You can read it here: https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~drkelly/DFWKenyonAddress2005.pdf or listen to it here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI. It provides some really great insight into his mind and what he's all about.

LeahBergen I'm going to save this for a listen when I have time later today! I just finished Infinite Jest yesterday. 👏🏻 7y
mauveandrosysky @LeahBergen awesome, congrats! 😊 7y
LeahBergen @Eamann @mauveandrosysky Thank you both... I'm actually feeling pretty accomplished. 😂 7y
40 likes1 stack add4 comments
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GoneFishing

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.

Laalaleighh This is my all time favorite commencement speech! 8y
35 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Jana1982
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Pickpick

This is probably the thing I've read the most times? It's chicken soup for the critically thinking soul. First time reading it in its hard back edition. I'm bout to turn this wine into water. ❤️

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PennCage
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Highlighter is the reader's best friend. 😉📖

paradise_found92 Love me some DFW! 8y
PennCage I just found out about that article about him a couple weeks ago! So inspiring! Anything else i should check out from him? @paradise_found92 8y
paradise_found92 @PennCage Yes! His book of essays Consider the Lobster is wonderful too! Some of the references are a little dated, but his thought processes and concepts are pure gold. 8y
PennCage @paradise_found92 .. i got most of his work after I replied to the comment.. haha 😅I got that one too! 'Consider the lobster' but I started out with 'the broom of the system' .. ill make sure i read that one right after though! 👍😊 8y
44 likes4 comments
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PennCage

"The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day. "
#truth #inspired

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GoneFishing

There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship...If you worship money and things, ...then you will never have enough...Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly...Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid...Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.

Leslie Use this every year with my seniors when graduarion gets close. 8y
32 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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GoneFishing

The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day. That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the rat race, the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.

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CarrieScott
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"That is real freedom."
- David Foster Wallace

4 likes1 stack add
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elkeOriginal
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A delightful, wise, and wonderful SHORT essay by DFW. And the cover that immediately popped into my head for #augustphotochallenge #minimalisticcovers #day6 #augustofpages

OSChamberlain I love minimalist covers so much 😭 8y
elkeOriginal @OSChamberlain I look forward to seeing some of your favorites! 8y
TheSpinecrackersBookClub This is gorgeous! 8y
Mayread Great choice. Beautiful essay. 8y
31 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Ms.DeMaine

Looking for graduation inspiration. Book 2 of #100bookchallenge

2 likes1 stack add
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Jay-P
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Pickpick

"Borrowed" my graduating son's beer, and graduation gift. Not a great dad, but no regrets. Great read and so much lighter than my unopened Infinite Jest.

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Bethanyhope
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The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.