--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To experience commitment as the loss of…" description: "\"To experience commitment as the loss of options, a type of death, the death of childhood's limitless possibility, of the flattery of choice without dur..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/david-foster-wallace-161_childhood_to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of_494655.jpg" --- # To experience commitment as the loss of options, a type of… ![“To experience commitment as the loss of options, a type of death, the death of childhood's limitless possibility, of the flattery of choice without duress-this will happen, mark me. Childhood's end.” quote by David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/david-foster-wallace-161_childhood_to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of_494655.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/david-foster-wallace-161_childhood_to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of_494655.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/david-foster-wallace-161_childhood_to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of_494655.jpg) > “To experience commitment as the loss of options, a type of death, the death of childhood's limitless possibility, of the flattery of choice without duress-this will happen, mark me. Childhood's end.” [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. Commitment eliminates many choices, feeling like a death of youthful freedom and endless possibilities. **In simple terms:** Commitment narrows options, ending carefree freedom. Key Takeaway Accept limited options as growth. Themes commitment choice freedom growth Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career decisions - relationships - long‑term projects - personal development Key Concepts Existentialism psychology life stages Questions to Reflect On - How does losing options shape your identity? - What freedoms arise from commitment? A Different Perspective Freedom can feel lost, but new purpose emerges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Commitment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commitment/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Duress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duress/) [Flattery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flattery/) [Limitless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitless/) [Limitless possibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitless-possibilities/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) ## Related quotes > [The death of childhood is the beginning of poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/the-death-of-childhood-is-the-beginning-of-poetry/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [“I’ll gladly identify myself if you’ll first simply explain what it is I’m identifying myself as. This is my position. You’re requiring me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/i-ll-gladly-identify-myself-if-you-ll-first-simply-explain-what-it-is/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [“The only promise of childhood is that it will end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/the-only-promise-of-childhood-is-that-it-will-end/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [“When did your childhood end? How badly did you get hurt, when you did, when you were this little wee little hurtable thing, nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-eno/when-did-your-childhood-end-how-badly-did-you-get-hurt-when-you-did/) Will Eno > [“… so it isn’t true any longer that we can just create ourselves. Now we must. Our childhood as a race is over and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/so-it-isn-t-true-any-longer-that-we-can-just-create-ourselves-now-we/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [Education and admonition commence in the first years of childhood, and last to the very end of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/education-and-admonition-commence-in-the-first-years-of-childhood-and/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“The feeling he had had all his young life - that he was brought on this earth for something special - had not left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paullina-simons/the-feeling-he-had-had-all-his-young-life-that-he-was-brought-on-this/) [Paullina Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paullina-simons/) > [How like a railway tunnel is the poor man's life, with the light of childhood at one end, the intermediate gloom, and only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/how-like-a-railway-tunnel-is-the-poor-man-s-life-with-the-light-of/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Somewhere slightly before or after the close of our second decade, we reach a momentous milestone--childhood's end. We have left asafe place and can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/somewhere-slightly-before-or-after-the-close-of-our-second-decade-we/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [From the windows of my office in Boston ... I can see the Golden Stairs from Boston Harbor where all eight of my great-grandparents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/from-the-windows-of-my-office-in-boston-i-can-see-the-golden-stairs/) [Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/) > [If I was on a march at the moment I would be saying to everyone: Be honest with each other. Admit there are limitless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/if-i-was-on-a-march-at-the-moment-i-would-be-saying-to-everyone-be/) [Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/) > [What can be impossible in a world of limitless possibilities?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-can-be-impossible-in-a-world-of-limitless-possibilities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The web has changed the way we organise information in a very clear way: from the boundaried, solid format of books and newspapers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-viner/the-web-has-changed-the-way-we-organise-information-in-a-very-clear/) [Katharine Viner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-viner/) > [Nothing is more paralyzing than the idea of limitless possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-kleon/nothing-is-more-paralyzing-than-the-idea-of-limitless-possibilities/) [Austin Kleon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-kleon/) > [The hope of Internet anarchists was that repressive governments would have only two options: accept the Internet with its limitless possibilities of spreading information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/the-hope-of-internet-anarchists-was-that-repressive-governments-would/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) ## 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 Childhood quotes > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [“From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw—I could not bring My passions from a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/from-childhood-s-hour-i-have-not-been-as-others-were-i-have-not-seen/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [We were so poor as kids. I didn't even see a bathtub, running water, hot water, commode - we didn't have any of that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/we-were-so-poor-as-kids-i-didn-t-even-see-a-bathtub-running-water-hot/) [Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-robertson/) > [I had a rough upbringing. Group homes. Foster homes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-shamrock/i-had-a-rough-upbringing-group-homes-foster-homes/) [Frank Shamrock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-shamrock/) > [When I talk about my childhood I used to say it as if it was scripted and I'd make jokes because it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-katona/when-i-talk-about-my-childhood-i-used-to-say-it-as-if-it-was-scripted/) [Kerry Katona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-katona/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [It's a very familiar type of place where people either go to their house on the lake or they get together in different places.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-carell/it-s-a-very-familiar-type-of-place-where-people-either-go-to-their/) [Steve Carell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-carell/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [Downstairs in my house, I have a museum room. I keep all of my awards down there, and childhood photos, and even all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-kelly/downstairs-in-my-house-i-have-a-museum-room-i-keep-all-of-my-awards/) [R. Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-kelly/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [On paper, it looks rough, but I had a great childhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-morton/on-paper-it-looks-rough-but-i-had-a-great-childhood/) [Samantha Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-morton/) > [Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/let-positive-strong-helpful-thoughts-enter-into-your-brains-from-very/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I always knew that I was kind of bored; the regular life of a child didn't fit me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-ricci/i-always-knew-that-i-was-kind-of-bored-the-regular-life-of-a-child/) [Christina Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-ricci/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I'm not sure I would have ever started to draw, let alone write, if my childhood hadn't been so happy. It was a mixture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/i-m-not-sure-i-would-have-ever-started-to-draw-let-alone-write-if-my/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) [Browse all 5,837 Childhood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To experience commitment as the loss of options, a type of death, the death of childhood's limitless possibility, of the flattery of choice without duress-this will happen, mark me. Childhood's end.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Foster Wallace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of-options-a-type-of-death-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Childhood" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of-options-a-type-of-death-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/david-foster-wallace-161_childhood_to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of_494655.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/david-foster-wallace-161_childhood_to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of_494655.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c73/david-foster-wallace-161_childhood_to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of_494655.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To experience commitment as the loss of options, a type of death, the death of childhood's limitless…” — David Foster Wallace", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Foster Wallace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To experience commitment as the loss...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of-options-a-type-of-death-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-experience-commitment-as-the-loss-of-options-a-type-of-death-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```