Children Quote by David Foster Wallace
““You see parents as kind or unkind or happy or miserable or drunk or sober or great or near-great or failed the way you see a table square or a Montclair lip-read. Kids today... you kids today somehow don't know how to feel, much less love, to say nothing of respect. We're just bodies to you. We're just bodies and shoulders and scarred knees and big bellies and empty wallets and flasks to you. I'm not saying something cliché like you take us for granted so much as I'm saying you cannot... imagine our absence. We're so present it's ceased to mean. We're environmental. Furniture of the world.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The Depressed Person,” The New Yorker, 2005
People reduce others to objects, ignoring their full humanity, turning them into mere furniture of existence.
In simple terms: We treat others as objects, not people.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and honor each person's full humanity.
Themes
empathy
objectification
human dignity
Mood
critical
somber
Type
philosophical
social commentary
When to use this quote
- workplace interactions
- family gatherings
- public discourse
- media consumption
Key Concepts
philosophy
social critique
existentialism
Questions to Reflect On
- In what ways do you objectify others unconsciously?
- How can you shift perception to see people as whole beings?
A Different Perspective
Complex social dynamics may resist simple empathy.
