---
title: "1 Comfort Afflicted Quotes By David Shields"
description: "1 Comfort Afflicted quotes by David Shields. Plus more from David Shields and more Comfort Afflicted sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/david-shields-8815_art_i-ve-always-liked-this-idea-that-writing_443249.jpg"
---

> [I've always liked this idea that writing should comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable to create trouble. The value of a work of art can be measured by the harm spoken of it. If you're not feeling that, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-ve-always-liked-this-idea-that-writing-should-comfort-the-afflicted/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fba/david-shields-8815_art_i-ve-always-liked-this-idea-that-writing_443249.jpg)

## More by David Shields

> [To be honest, there are parts of 'How Literature Saved My Life' that began as interviews. Someone was telling me that they think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/to-be-honest-there-are-parts-of-how-literature-saved-my-life-that/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [I'm very drawn to the way in which a life lived can be an art of sorts or a failed art, and a life-lived-told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-m-very-drawn-to-the-way-in-which-a-life-lived-can-be-an-art-of/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [People like Ian McEwan and Jonathan Franzen completely bore me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/people-like-ian-mcewan-and-jonathan-franzen-completely-bore-me/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [You're one of 6.5 billion people now on the planet, and 99.9 percent of your genes are the same as everyone else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/you-re-one-of-6-5-billion-people-now-on-the-planet-and-99-9-percent/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [We're completely confused about the boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. To me, the moment you compose, you're fictionalising; the moment you remember, you're dreaming.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/we-re-completely-confused-about-the-boundaries-between-fiction-and/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [Your art is most alive and dangerous when you use it against yourself. That's why I pick at my scabs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/your-art-is-most-alive-and-dangerous-when-you-use-it-against-yourself/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [Everything I write, I believe instinctively, is to some extent collage. Meaning, ultimately, is a matter of adjacent data.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/everything-i-write-i-believe-instinctively-is-to-some-extent-collage/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [Swimming is by far the best tonic I've found for my back. I'm not a good swimmer - I do the breaststroke or elementary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/swimming-is-by-far-the-best-tonic-i-ve-found-for-my-back-i-m-not-a/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [I've always liked this idea that writing should comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable to create trouble. The value of a work of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-ve-always-liked-this-idea-that-writing-should-comfort-the-afflicted/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [The beauty of reality-based art - art underwritten by reality hunger - is that it's perfectly situated between life itself and (unattainable) "life as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/the-beauty-of-reality-based-art-art-underwritten-by-reality-hunger-is/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [“A great book allows me to leap over that wall: in a deep, significant conversation with another consciousness, I feel human and unalone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/a-great-book-allows-me-to-leap-over-that-wall-in-a-deep-significant/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [The novel is dead. Long live the antinovel, built from scraps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/the-novel-is-dead-long-live-the-antinovel-built-from-scraps/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [I am exhausted by traditional memoir. I am exhausted by the architecture of the conventional novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-am-exhausted-by-traditional-memoir-i-am-exhausted-by-the/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [I couldn't tell a story if my life depended on it. I'm the world's worst joke-teller.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-couldn-t-tell-a-story-if-my-life-depended-on-it-i-m-the-world-s/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

> [The absence of plot leaves the reader room to think about other things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/the-absence-of-plot-leaves-the-reader-room-to-think-about-other-things/)

[David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/)

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