--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: American experience seems to suggest that…" description: "\"American experience seems to suggest that people are virtually unlimited in their need to give themselves away, on various levels. Some just prefer to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/327/david-foster-wallace-161_american-experience_american-experience-seems-to-suggest-tha_2889541.jpg" --- # American experience seems to suggest that people are… ![“American experience seems to suggest that people are virtually unlimited in their need to give themselves away, on various levels. Some just prefer to do it in secret.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/327/david-foster-wallace-161_american-experience_american-experience-seems-to-suggest-tha_2889541.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/327/david-foster-wallace-161_american-experience_american-experience-seems-to-suggest-tha_2889541.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/327/david-foster-wallace-161_american-experience_american-experience-seems-to-suggest-tha_2889541.jpg) > “American experience seems to suggest that people are virtually unlimited in their need to give themselves away, on various levels. Some just prefer to do it in secret.” [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People have an endless desire to sacrifice themselves, often secretly, revealing deep altruism and self‑neglect. **In simple terms:** People constantly give of of themselves, sometimes hidden. Key Takeaway Recognize and balance self‑sacrifice. Themes self‑sacrifice altruism identity privacy Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - volunteering - caregiving - anonymous donations - burnout prevention Key Concepts psychology existentialism social dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you know when giving becomes self‑destructive? - What motivates hidden generosity? A Different Perspective Self‑sacrifice can lead to loss of self and burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-experience/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) ## Related quotes > [ “Some persons can give themselves away to an ambitious pursuit and have that be all the giving-away-to-something they need to do \[...\] American experience… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/some-persons-can-give-themselves-away-to-an-ambitious-pursuit-and-2/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [I find in myself a need to get very away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-find-in-myself-a-need-to-get-very-away/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Some persons can give themselves away to an ambitious pursuit and have that be all the giving-themselves-away-to-something they need to do. Though sometimes this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/some-persons-can-give-themselves-away-to-an-ambitious-pursuit-and/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Sometimes you need to move away before you can see where you are”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-bellamacina/sometimes-you-need-to-move-away-before-you-can-see-where-you-are/) [Benny Bellamacina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-bellamacina/) > [We need to move away from oil, period.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-woolsey/we-need-to-move-away-from-oil-period/) James Woolsey > [We're all torn between the desire for privacy and the fear of lonliness. We need each other and we need to get away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/we-re-all-torn-between-the-desire-for-privacy-and-the-fear-of/) [Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/) > [Moving on mean you need to move away from the source, away from his presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-nocra/moving-on-mean-you-need-to-move-away-from-the-source-away-from-his/) Alvin Nocra > [Sometimes old things need to go away. That way, we have room for the new things that come into our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-k-milholland/sometimes-old-things-need-to-go-away-that-way-we-have-room-for-the/) [R. K. Milholland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-k-milholland/) > [I just need to get away for a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience/i-just-need-to-get-away-for-a-while/) Patience > [Yeah, to bring families together I need to go away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-docter/yeah-to-bring-families-together-i-need-to-go-away/) [Pete Docter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-docter/) > [But I don't have such a strong desire to need to get away from filmmaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-figgis/but-i-don-t-have-such-a-strong-desire-to-need-to-get-away-from/) [Mike Figgis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-figgis/) > [I always need to get away from whatever it is I've just finished, to feel a distance from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-sherman/i-always-need-to-get-away-from-whatever-it-is-i-ve-just-finished-to/) [Cindy Sherman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-sherman/) > [We see parts of each other, and we put them together. But if I want to see you in totality, you need to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-giacometti/we-see-parts-of-each-other-and-we-put-them-together-but-if-i-want-to/) Diego Giacometti > [If I cannot be the best or operate at the best highest level, then I need to go away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolph-ziggler/if-i-cannot-be-the-best-or-operate-at-the-best-highest-level-then-i/) [Dolph Ziggler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolph-ziggler/) > [Being a starving company isn't fun for anyone. Most that go away need to go away... but certainly not all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-wilson/being-a-starving-company-isn-t-fun-for-anyone-most-that-go-away-need/) [Mike Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-wilson/) ## 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/) [Explore all 999 David Foster Wallace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) ## More American experience quotes > [You've got Washington picking winners and losers. And so, all of a sudden, decisions are being made on what helps politicians, not what helps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-hensarling/you-ve-got-washington-picking-winners-and-losers-and-so-all-of-a/) [Jeb Hensarling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-hensarling/) > [Undeniably the American art form, too. And yet more and more, we see films made that diminish the American experience and example. And sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/undeniably-the-american-art-form-too-and-yet-more-and-more-we-see/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [When under siege, if we do not stand for our liberties and for the liberties of those who are unable to stand for themselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-huelskamp/when-under-siege-if-we-do-not-stand-for-our-liberties-and-for-the/) [Tim Huelskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-huelskamp/) > [There are aspects of Asian culture in my work, but it's really rooted in an American experience - transcendentalism, '60s counterculture, punk rock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-tomaselli/there-are-aspects-of-asian-culture-in-my-work-but-it-s-really-rooted/) [Fred Tomaselli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-tomaselli/) > [Growing up in the U.S., I was certainly deeply aware of the power of American media, specifically Hollywood and television, in terms of broadcasting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nguyen-viet-thang/growing-up-in-the-u-s-i-was-certainly-deeply-aware-of-the-power-of/) [Nguyen Viet Thang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nguyen-viet-thang/) > [Hip-hop in Africa has been very often a duplication of an American experience, but in a context that's totally alien to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-naan/hip-hop-in-africa-has-been-very-often-a-duplication-of-an-american/) [K'naan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-naan/) > [“Paranoid thinking seems to be a legacy of all revolutions, with purists searching for signs of heresy, and the American experience was no exception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/paranoid-thinking-seems-to-be-a-legacy-of-all-revolutions-with/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [The American experience works when people embrace a set of shared values, you come, you work hard, you embrace these values and you're as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeb-bush/the-american-experience-works-when-people-embrace-a-set-of-shared/) [Jeb Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeb-bush/) > [My writing is a lens into the possibilities of the American experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bartlett-johnson/my-writing-is-a-lens-into-the-possibilities-of-the-american-experience/) [Charles Bartlett Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bartlett-johnson/) > [I'm an American, but being a black American, my experience is a particular one, my struggles have been particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/i-m-an-american-but-being-a-black-american-my-experience-is-a/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [The interesting thing about the African-American experience in this country is that we are sort of a mongrel of people. I mean we're all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-interesting-thing-about-the-african-american-experience-in-this/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I've made it my mission to make movies starring African American actors and about the African American experience and put them in the mainstream.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-d-lee/i-ve-made-it-my-mission-to-make-movies-starring-african-american/) [Malcolm D. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-d-lee/) > [High school is closer to the core of the American experience than anything else I can think of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/high-school-is-closer-to-the-core-of-the-american-experience-than/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I don't really identify with America, I don't really feel like an American or part of the American experience, and I don't really feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-don-t-really-identify-with-america-i-don-t-really-feel-like-an/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [I see the American experience as being defined by the immigrant paradigm of rupture and renewal: rupture with the old world, the old ways,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayad-akhtar/i-see-the-american-experience-as-being-defined-by-the-immigrant/) [Ayad Akhtar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayad-akhtar/) [Browse all 36 American experience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-experience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "American experience seems to suggest that people are virtually unlimited in their need to give themselves away, on various levels. 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