--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The trick to this solution is that you…" description: "\"“The trick to this solution is that you have to be 100% honest. Meaning not just sincere but almost naked. Worse than naked - more like unarmed. Defens..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/david-foster-wallace-161_quote_the-trick-to-this-solution-is-that-you-h_1006037.jpg" --- # The trick to this solution is that you have to be 100%… ![“The trick to this solution is that you have to be 100% honest. Meaning not just sincere but almost naked. Worse than naked - more like unarmed. Defenseless.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/david-foster-wallace-161_quote_the-trick-to-this-solution-is-that-you-h_1006037.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/david-foster-wallace-161_quote_the-trick-to-this-solution-is-that-you-h_1006037.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/david-foster-wallace-161_quote_the-trick-to-this-solution-is-that-you-h_1006037.jpg) > ““The trick to this solution is that you have to be 100% honest. Meaning not just sincere but almost naked. Worse than naked - more like unarmed. Defenseless.”” [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. True honesty requires stripping away all defenses, exposing oneself completely vulnerable. **In simple terms:** Complete honesty is total vulnerability. Key Takeaway Practice radical honesty, even when uncomfortable. Themes vulnerability authenticity self‑exposure Mood introspective cautious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - conflict resolution - creative writing - personal relationships Key Concepts existentialism psychology truthfulness Questions to Reflect On - When is it wise to hold back? - How do you protect yourself while being honest? A Different Perspective Total honesty can damage relationships if not handled sensitively. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) ## Related quotes > [“JAY: Why is a story more upfront than life? LENORE: It just seems more honest, somehow. JAY: Honest meaning closer to the truth? LENORE:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/jay-why-is-a-story-more-upfront-than-life-lenore-it-just-seems-more/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Oft has good nature been the fool's defence, And honest meaning gilded want of sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shenstone/oft-has-good-nature-been-the-fool-s-defence-and-honest-meaning-gilded/) [William Shenstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shenstone/) > [Made me feel ashamed of belonging to these overpowering, technical superior countries fighting against what seemed to me quite defenseless people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-blake/made-me-feel-ashamed-of-belonging-to-these-overpowering-technical/) [George Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-blake/) > [Show me how defenseless you really are satisfied and empty inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/breaking-benjamin/show-me-how-defenseless-you-really-are-satisfied-and-empty-inside/) [Breaking Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/breaking-benjamin/) > [“sometimes weakness was a guise, especially if it were worn too conspicuously. Looking defenseless and being defenseless were two very different things in Dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-t-scott/sometimes-weakness-was-a-guise-especially-if-it-were-worn-too/) [Jasper T. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-t-scott/) > [I don't trust any white man who teaches Negroes to turn the other cheek or to be nonviolent, which means to be defenseless in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-don-t-trust-any-white-man-who-teaches-negroes-to-turn-the-other/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [I don't view myself as a victim of gun violence. I view myself as a victim of a maniac who happened to use a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanna-hupp/i-don-t-view-myself-as-a-victim-of-gun-violence-i-view-myself-as-a/) Suzanna Hupp > [“Those who don't know their history are defenseless against those determined to repeat it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-a-davis/those-who-don-t-know-their-history-are-defenseless-against-those/) [Ray A. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-a-davis/) > [Erudition, like a bloodhound, is a charming thing when held firmly in leash, but it is not so attractive when turned loose upon a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/erudition-like-a-bloodhound-is-a-charming-thing-when-held-firmly-in/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [“It is that we are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love, never so helplessly unhappy as when we have lost our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-is-that-we-are-never-so-defenseless-against-suffering-as-when-we/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“defenseless. You come to the aid of the righteous. Am I right?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcfarlane/defenseless-you-come-to-the-aid-of-the-righteous-am-i-right/) [Jamie McFarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcfarlane/) > [“A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-fike/a-person-without-self-control-is-as-defenseless-as-a-city-with-broken/) [Al Fike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-fike/) > [“There's no room for selfishness when you have a defenseless human being depending on you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-asher/there-s-no-room-for-selfishness-when-you-have-a-defenseless-human/) [Mia Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-asher/) > [The tango is the man and woman in search of each other. It is the search for an embrace, a way to be together,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-carlos-copes/the-tango-is-the-man-and-woman-in-search-of-each-other-it-is-the/) Juan Carlos Copes > [What I have against religion is that they start you when you are so defenseless. I mean, I was three when they started pumping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/what-i-have-against-religion-is-that-they-start-you-when-you-are-so/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) ## 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 Defenseless quotes > [What I have against religion is that they start you when you are so defenseless. I mean, I was three when they started pumping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/what-i-have-against-religion-is-that-they-start-you-when-you-are-so/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [The tango is the man and woman in search of each other. It is the search for an embrace, a way to be together,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-carlos-copes/the-tango-is-the-man-and-woman-in-search-of-each-other-it-is-the/) Juan Carlos Copes > [“There's no room for selfishness when you have a defenseless human being depending on you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-asher/there-s-no-room-for-selfishness-when-you-have-a-defenseless-human/) [Mia Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-asher/) > [“A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-fike/a-person-without-self-control-is-as-defenseless-as-a-city-with-broken/) [Al Fike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-fike/) > [“defenseless. You come to the aid of the righteous. Am I right?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcfarlane/defenseless-you-come-to-the-aid-of-the-righteous-am-i-right/) [Jamie McFarlane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcfarlane/) > [“It is that we are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love, never so helplessly unhappy as when we have lost our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/it-is-that-we-are-never-so-defenseless-against-suffering-as-when-we/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Erudition, like a bloodhound, is a charming thing when held firmly in leash, but it is not so attractive when turned loose upon a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/erudition-like-a-bloodhound-is-a-charming-thing-when-held-firmly-in/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [“Those who don't know their history are defenseless against those determined to repeat it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-a-davis/those-who-don-t-know-their-history-are-defenseless-against-those/) [Ray A. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-a-davis/) > [I don't view myself as a victim of gun violence. I view myself as a victim of a maniac who happened to use a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanna-hupp/i-don-t-view-myself-as-a-victim-of-gun-violence-i-view-myself-as-a/) Suzanna Hupp > [I don't trust any white man who teaches Negroes to turn the other cheek or to be nonviolent, which means to be defenseless in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-don-t-trust-any-white-man-who-teaches-negroes-to-turn-the-other/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“sometimes weakness was a guise, especially if it were worn too conspicuously. Looking defenseless and being defenseless were two very different things in Dark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-t-scott/sometimes-weakness-was-a-guise-especially-if-it-were-worn-too/) [Jasper T. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-t-scott/) > [Show me how defenseless you really are satisfied and empty inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/breaking-benjamin/show-me-how-defenseless-you-really-are-satisfied-and-empty-inside/) [Breaking Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/breaking-benjamin/) > [Made me feel ashamed of belonging to these overpowering, technical superior countries fighting against what seemed to me quite defenseless people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-blake/made-me-feel-ashamed-of-belonging-to-these-overpowering-technical/) [George Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-blake/) > [“A person without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls” (Proverbs 25:28).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-fike/a-person-without-self-control-is-as-defenseless-as-a-city-with-broken-2/) [Al Fike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-fike/) > [For us, warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sitting-bull/for-us-warriors-are-not-what-you-think-of-as-warriors-the-warrior-is/) [Sitting Bull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sitting-bull/) Browse all 112 Defenseless quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The trick to this solution is that you have to be 100% honest. Meaning not just sincere but almost naked. Worse than naked - more like unarmed. 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