--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is so American, man: either make…" description: "\"This is so American, man: either make something your God and cosmos and then worship it, or else kill it.\" — David Foster Wallace" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/david-foster-wallace-161_cosmos_this-is-so-american-man-either-make-some_965423.jpg" --- # This is so American, man: either make something your God… ![“This is so American, man: either make something your God and cosmos and then worship it, or else kill it.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/david-foster-wallace-161_cosmos_this-is-so-american-man-either-make-some_965423.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/david-foster-wallace-161_cosmos_this-is-so-american-man-either-make-some_965423.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/785/david-foster-wallace-161_cosmos_this-is-so-american-man-either-make-some_965423.jpg) > “This is so American, man: either make something your God and cosmos and then worship it, or else kill it.” [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. One must either devote oneself wholly to a belief or reject it completely, avoiding half‑hearted commitments that lack purpose. **In simple terms:** Commit fully or not at all. Key Takeaway Choose a guiding purpose and pursue it. Themes purpose commitment belief existence Mood introspective serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career choices - spiritual practice - political activism - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism personal philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What belief would you make your guiding principle? - How do you avoid fanaticism while staying committed? A Different Perspective Blind devotion can ignore nuance and lead to dogmatism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cosmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmos/) [Worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worship/) ## Related quotes > [“But man seeks to worship what is established beyond dispute, so that all men would agree at once to worship it. 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You could try, but you simply can't do it - because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/there-is-nothing-you-can-do-that-will-make-god-stop-loving-you-you/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe if I make God angry one more time. I'll be eligible to win a free Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/i-believe-if-i-make-god-angry-one-more-time-i-ll-be-eligible-to-win-a/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [“...Make God's Word your Sourcebook...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jeremiah/make-god-s-word-your-sourcebook/) [David Jeremiah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jeremiah/) > [To me, it's the folly of man to make God human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/to-me-it-s-the-folly-of-man-to-make-god-human/) [Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/) > [“We cannot make God love us more, and we cannot make God love us less. We do not have that kind of power because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/we-cannot-make-god-love-us-more-and-we-cannot-make-god-love-us-less/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [I've told several writers this, and, again, I get back to it, but if you want to make God smile, tell him your plans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vin-scully/i-ve-told-several-writers-this-and-again-i-get-back-to-it-but-if-you/) [Vin Scully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vin-scully/) > [I'm trying to make God more relevant in our society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/i-m-trying-to-make-god-more-relevant-in-our-society/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [“To overestimate myself is to make myself my own god. To underestimate myself is to make myself my own demon. And the curse of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-overestimate-myself-is-to-make-myself-my-own-god-to-underestimate/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [“You wanna know how to make God laugh?" he said. "Tell him your plans." (God-shaped Hole)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-debartolo/you-wanna-know-how-to-make-god-laugh-he-said-tell-him-your-plans-god/) Tiffany Debartolo > [Spiritual leaders are not made by man, nor any combination of men. Neither conferences, nor synods, nor councils can make them, but only God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-logan-brengle/spiritual-leaders-are-not-made-by-man-nor-any-combination-of-men/) [Samuel Logan Brengle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-logan-brengle/) > [“If I fuck you, you’ll think all your prayers have been answered. I’ll make you see god, Middleton. I’ll make you think I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-dangerfield/if-i-fuck-you-you-ll-think-all-your-prayers-have-been-answered-i-ll/) [Eve Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-dangerfield/) > [“There is nothing we could ever do to make God love us more; there is nothing we can do to make Him love us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dillon-burroughs/there-is-nothing-we-could-ever-do-to-make-god-love-us-more-there-is/) [Dillon Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dillon-burroughs/) ## 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 Cosmos quotes > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“The necessity of nothingness does not create anything. The real value and meaning of the Being are not in its necessity but in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/the-necessity-of-nothingness-does-not-create-anything-the-real-value/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [The entire cosmos is one vast burning bush, permeated by the fire of the divine power and glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallistos-ware/the-entire-cosmos-is-one-vast-burning-bush-permeated-by-the-fire-of/) [Kallistos Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallistos-ware/) > [If the estimated age of the cosmos were shortened to seventy-two years, a human life would take about ten seconds. But look at time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-grudin/if-the-estimated-age-of-the-cosmos-were-shortened-to-seventy-two/) [Robert Grudin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-grudin/) > [I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not and end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-be-the-embarrassment-of-the-galaxy-to-have-had-the/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“When a person dies, they cross over from the realm of freedom to the realm of slavery. Life is freedom, and dying is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/when-a-person-dies-they-cross-over-from-the-realm-of-freedom-to-the/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“We take off into the cosmos, ready for anything: for solitude, for hardship, for exhaustion, death. Modesty forbids us to say so, but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanis-aw-lem/we-take-off-into-the-cosmos-ready-for-anything-for-solitude-for/) [Stanisław Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanis-aw-lem/) > [As George Bernard Shaw observed: "All great truths begin as blasphemies." Yet I have to say, the idea that there is intelligent life elsewhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/as-george-bernard-shaw-observed-all-great-truths-begin-as-blasphemies/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [If the purpose of the universe was to create humans then the cosmos was embarrassingly inefficient about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-the-purpose-of-the-universe-was-to-create-humans-then-the-cosmos/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Finally, if life happened by chance on this earth and evolved upward, then it could seemingly happen elsewhere in the universe. 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