--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hear this or not, as you will. Learn it…" description: "\"Hear this or not, as you will. Learn it now, or later -- the world has time. Routine, repetition, tedium, monotony, ephemeracy, inconsequence, abstract..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/david-foster-wallace-161_abstraction_hear-this-or-not-as-you-will-learn-it-no_2214230.jpg" --- # Hear this or not, as you will. Learn it now, or later… ![“Hear this or not, as you will. Learn it now, or later -- the world has time. Routine, repetition, tedium, monotony, ephemeracy, inconsequence, abstraction, disorder, boredom, angst, ennui -- these are the true hero's enemies, and make no mistake, they are fearsome indeed. For they are real.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/david-foster-wallace-161_abstraction_hear-this-or-not-as-you-will-learn-it-no_2214230.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/david-foster-wallace-161_abstraction_hear-this-or-not-as-you-will-learn-it-no_2214230.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42a/david-foster-wallace-161_abstraction_hear-this-or-not-as-you-will-learn-it-no_2214230.jpg) > “Hear this or not, as you will. Learn it now, or later -- the world has time. Routine, repetition, tedium, monotony, ephemeracy, inconsequence, abstraction, disorder, boredom, angst, ennui -- these are the true hero's enemies, and make no mistake, they are fearsome indeed. For they are real.” [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. The quote warns that monotony and routine are the real enemies of creativity and heroism, urging proactive engagement. **In simple terms:** Monotony hinders heroism; act now. Key Takeaway Break routine, seek meaning. Themes creativity heroism routine monotony focus Mood reflective determined Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - writing - personal development - daily work - creative projects Key Concepts Existentialism psychology habit formation Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform routine into purposeful action? - What habits help you resist boredom? A Different Perspective Even with effort, monotony can be unavoidable in some tasks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Angst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angst/) [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Disorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disorder/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Ennui](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ennui/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Hero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hero/) [Hero Enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hero-enemies-1507567/) [Learn Later](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learn-later-755520/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Monotony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monotony/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Repetition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repetition/) [Repetition Tedium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repetition-tedium-4915841/) [Routine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/routine/) [Tedium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tedium/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [True hero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-hero/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Routine, repetition, tedium, monotony, ephemeracy, inconsequence, abstraction, disorder, boredom, angst, ennui — these are the true hero's enemies, and make no mistake, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/routine-repetition-tedium-monotony-ephemeracy-inconsequence/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Soon, what was tedious was everything. 'Beautiful things, they're so tedious! Paintings, they're enough to drive you mad...How right you are, it's so tedious,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/soon-what-was-tedious-was-everything-beautiful-things-they-re-so/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [TEDIUM, n. Ennui, the state or condition of one that is bored. Many fanciful derivations of the word have been affirmed, but so high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/tedium-n-ennui-the-state-or-condition-of-one-that-is-bored-many/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“Terror came. I would fall into a slumber of days, and getting up would go on with the same sad dreams. I was ripe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/terror-came-i-would-fall-into-a-slumber-of-days-and-getting-up-would/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [I felt the sort of soaring, ceilingless tedium that transcends tedium and becomes worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-felt-the-sort-of-soaring-ceilingless-tedium-that-transcends-tedium/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Gentlemen- by which I mean, of course, latter adolescents who aspire to manhood gentlemen, here is a truth: Enduring tedium over real time in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/gentlemen-by-which-i-mean-of-course-latter-adolescents-who-aspire-to/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“Just because you don't know how to do something now does not mean you can't learn how to do it later.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/just-because-you-don-t-know-how-to-do-something-now-does-not-mean-you/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [You must acquire the best knowledge first, and without delay; it is the height of madness to learn what you will later have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desiderius-erasmus/you-must-acquire-the-best-knowledge-first-and-without-delay-it-is-the/) [Desiderius Erasmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desiderius-erasmus/) > [“Learn everything. Later you will see that nothing is superfluous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/learn-everything-later-you-will-see-that-nothing-is-superfluous/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Everyone does deserve a second chance, although we don't often get one, and even when we do get a second chance, we're likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/binnie-kirshenbaum/everyone-does-deserve-a-second-chance-although-we-don-t-often-get-one/) [Binnie Kirshenbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/binnie-kirshenbaum/) > [If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes-then learn how to do it later!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/if-somebody-offers-you-an-amazing-opportunity-but-you-are-not-sure/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [My mother used to tell me, No matter what they ask you, always say yes. You can learn later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/my-mother-used-to-tell-me-no-matter-what-they-ask-you-always-say-yes/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [When you’re young, whatever you do that makes you stand out is a frightening thing. You learn later that that’s what you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriella-wilde/when-you-re-young-whatever-you-do-that-makes-you-stand-out-is-a/) [Gabriella Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriella-wilde/) > [“This is something else I will learn while I am with you-not now, but later: there are so many ways to drown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-demetrios/this-is-something-else-i-will-learn-while-i-am-with-you-not-now-but/) [Heather Demetrios](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-demetrios/) > [“Avoiding failure is something we learn at some later point in life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/avoiding-failure-is-something-we-learn-at-some-later-point-in-life/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) ## 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 Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. A surprising variety of things happen to have both magnitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banesh-hoffmann/but-we-must-not-underestimate-the-potency-of-the-mathematical-process/) [Banesh Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banesh-hoffmann/) > [Sometimes I start in a very realistic fashion, and as I go on from one painting to another of the same kind, it becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/sometimes-i-start-in-a-very-realistic-fashion-and-as-i-go-on-from-one/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [I like residing in abstraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sufjan-stevens/i-like-residing-in-abstraction/) [Sufjan Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sufjan-stevens/) > [Cancer begins and ends with people. In the midst of scientific abstraction, it is sometimes possible to forget this one basic fact. Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. 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It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Hear this or not, as you will. Learn it now, or later -- the world has time. Routine, repetition, tedium, monotony, ephemeracy, inconsequence, abstraction, disorder, boredom, angst, ennui -- these are the true hero's enemies, and make no mistake, they are fearsome indeed. 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