“Here is just one example of the total wrongness of
something I tend to be automatically sure of: everything in my own immediate
experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the
universe; the realist, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely
think about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness because it's so
socially repulsive. But it's pretty much the same for all of us. It is our
default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth. Think about it: there is
no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of. The world
as you experience it is there in front of YOU or behind YOU, to the left or
right of YOU, on YOUR TV or YOUR monitor. And so on. Other people's thoughts
and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so
immediate, urgent, real.”
David Foster Wallace was an English and creative writing
professor, as well as an influential author. His most famous works were
Infinite Jest and The Pale King, a novel of his which was found unfinished,
three years after Wallace committed suicide.
Despite the internal struggles Wallace faced, this quote
of his reminds us that it’s okay to be egocentric, because that’s how we were
created and that’s all we’ve ever know. By realizing this, we are encouraged to
own that self-centeredness, utilizing ourselves to be the best we can be, and
feeling okay about putting our own needs first.
From:
Commencement address delivered by the late David Foster Wallace, professor at
Pomona College, CA and author, for the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College.
Picture
reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Foster_Wallace_bibliography
