--- title: "4 Cynicism Quotes By David Foster Wallace" description: "4 Cynicism quotes by David Foster Wallace. Plus more from David Foster Wallace and more Cynicism sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/930/david-foster-wallace-161_agendas_such-techniques-including-meta-discursiv_1875899.jpg" --- > [Such techniques, including meta-discursive stuff, self-reference, irony, black humor, cynicism, grotesquerie and shock, it would be safe to say that television or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/such-techniques-including-meta-discursive-stuff-self-reference-irony/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/930/david-foster-wallace-161_agendas_such-techniques-including-meta-discursiv_1875899.jpg) > [“Maybe it's the fact the most of the arts here are produced by world-weary and sophisticated older people and then consumed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/maybe-it-s-the-fact-the-most-of-the-arts-here-are-produced-by-world/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/david-foster-wallace-161_art_maybe-it-s-the-fact-the-most-of-the-arts_2690586.jpg) > [Postmodern irony and cynicism's become an end in itself, a measure of hip sophistication and literary savvy. Few artists dare to try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/postmodern-irony-and-cynicism-s-become-an-end-in-itself-a-measure-of-2/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/590/david-foster-wallace-161_age_postmodern-irony-and-cynicism-s-become-a_2885947.jpg) > [“shall I spend much of your time pointing out the degree to which televisual values influence the contemporary mood of jaded weltschmerz,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/shall-i-spend-much-of-your-time-pointing-out-the-degree-to-which/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/david-foster-wallace-161_cynicism_shall-i-spend-much-of-your-time-pointing_3074036.jpg) ## Other authors on Cynicism - [Wataru Watari 19 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/wataru-watari/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-barack-obama-16275.jpg) Barack Obama 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/barack-obama/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-mason-cooley-65303.jpg) Mason Cooley 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/mason-cooley/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-terry-pratchett-89528.jpg) Terry Pratchett 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/terry-pratchett/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-colbert-86965.jpg) Stephen Colbert 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/stephen-colbert/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-george-carlin-37578.jpg) George Carlin 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/george-carlin/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-oscar-wilde-72846.jpg) Oscar Wilde 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/oscar-wilde/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ambrose-bierce-12239.jpg) Ambrose Bierce 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/ambrose-bierce/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alain-de-botton-10218.jpg) Alain de Botton 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/alain-de-botton/) ## More by David Foster Wallace > [“I felt more solidly composed, now that I was horizontal. I was impossible to knock down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-felt-more-solidly-composed-now-that-i-was-horizontal-i-was/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“We all have our little solipsistic delusions, ghastly intuitions of utter singularity: that we are the only one in the house who ever fills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/we-all-have-our-little-solipsistic-delusions-ghastly-intuitions-of/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It's no accident that in a bureaucracy getting fired is called 'termination,' as in ontological erasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-s-no-accident-that-in-a-bureaucracy-getting-fired-is-called/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Footnote: 79) The anchor is gigantic and must weigh a hundred tons, and -- delightfully -- it really is anchor-shaped, i.e. the same shape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/footnote-79-the-anchor-is-gigantic-and-must-weigh-a-hundred-tons-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The paradoxical intercourse of audience and celebrity. The suppressed awareness that the whole reason ordinary people found celebrity fascinating was that they were not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-paradoxical-intercourse-of-audience-and-celebrity-the-suppressed/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“I am coming to see that the sensation of the worst nightmares, a sensation that can be felt asleep or awake, is identical to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-am-coming-to-see-that-the-sensation-of-the-worst-nightmares-a/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“He cranks the condo’s AC way down at night and still most mornings wakes up soaked, fetally curled, entombed in that kind of psychic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/he-cranks-the-condo-s-ac-way-down-at-night-and-still-most-mornings/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“If you’re subjected to enough great salesmen and salespitches and marketing concepts for long enough—like from your earliest Saturday-morning cartoons, let’s say—it is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/if-you-re-subjected-to-enough-great-salesmen-and-salespitches-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Why is the truth usually not just un- but anti-interesting?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/why-is-the-truth-usually-not-just-un-but-anti-interesting/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“She almost reminds the engineer of certain types in high school whom everyone adored because you sensed it made no difference to them whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/she-almost-reminds-the-engineer-of-certain-types-in-high-school-whom/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [To be, in a word, unborable… It is the key to modern life. If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-be-in-a-word-unborable-it-is-the-key-to-modern-life-if-you-are/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“It is within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-is-within-your-power-to-experience-a-crowded-loud-slow-consumer/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The happy pleasure of the person alone, yes?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/the-happy-pleasure-of-the-person-alone-yes/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [There is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/there-is-such-a-thing-as-raw-unalloyed-agendaless-kindness/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynicism/david-foster-wallace/#itemlist", "name": "4 Cynicism Quotes By David Foster Wallace", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Such techniques, including meta-discursive stuff, self-reference, irony, black humor, cynicism, grotesquerie and shock, it would be safe to say that television or televisual values rule the culture. 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