---
title: "3 Fiction Purpose Quotes By David Foster Wallace"
description: "3 Fiction Purpose quotes by David Foster Wallace. Plus more from David Foster Wallace and more Fiction Purpose sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b8/david-foster-wallace-161_books_i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s_995051.jpg"
---

> [“I guess a bit part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose-is-to-give-the-reader/)

[David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b8/david-foster-wallace-161_books_i-guess-a-bit-part-of-serious-fiction-s_995051.jpg)

> [“A big part of serious fiction’s purpose is to give the reader, who like all of us is sort of marooned in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/a-big-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose-is-to-give-the-reader-who/)

[David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f8/david-foster-wallace-161_art_a-big-part-of-serious-fiction-s-purpose_2383192.jpg)

> [“I had a teacher I liked who used to say good fiction’s job was to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-had-a-teacher-i-liked-who-used-to-say-good-fiction-s-job-was-to-2/)

[David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/david-foster-wallace-161_real-world_i-had-a-teacher-i-liked-who-used-to-say_3048687.jpg)

## 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/)

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