In the broadest possible sense, writing well means to communicate clearly and interestingly and in a way that feels alive to the reader. Where thereโs some kind of relationship between the writer and the reader - even though itโs mediated by a kind of text - thereโs an electricity about it.
David Foster WallaceProgressive liberals seem incapable of stating the obvious truth: that we who are well off should be willing to share more of what we have with poor people not for the poor people's sake but for our own; i.e., we should share what we have in order to become less narrow and frightened and lonely and self-centered people.
David Foster WallaceMario, what do you get when you cross an insomniac, an unwilling agnostic and a dyslexic?
David Foster WallaceWe all suffer alone in the real world. True empathy's impossible. But if a piece of fiction can alow us imaginatively to identify with a character's pain, we might then also more easily conceive of others identifying with their own. This is nourishing, redemptive; we become less alone inside. It might just be that simple.
David Foster Wallace