This is water
by David Foster Wallace · first published 2009
55% recommend44% neutral1% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short Kenyon College commencement speech on choosing what to pay attention to and handling everyday frustration, irritation and routine. Readers return to it when stressed; many say the audio is more moving.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in THIS IS WATER. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace's electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times,
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This post borrows heavily from the famous "This is Water" speech that David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College. It's well worth a read. Full text of the speech available here: http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/david-foster-wallace-in...
on “Fish don't know they're in water” ↗…Was No Object" - https://youtu.be/C_sbcSRMsOc If you're looking for something longer and more in-depth, the late David Foster Wallace's talk on a similar subject is incredibly sincere and motivating: "This Is Water" - http://youtu.be/dexIA_OfLzg
on “What if you didn't need money or attention?” ↗…restless like me, the postures will keep just enough of your mind occupied to allow yourself to explore yoga's meditative aspects. Ashtanga is my answer to David Foster Wallace's remarkable speech, "This Is Water".[0] The mind is indeed an "excellent servant", and I can proudly say that I am its master. Fun fact: When Sri Pattabhi Jois, a great Ashtanga guru, was asked by a student asked him why he would not…
on “Ask HN: Do you meditate?” ↗"This Is Water" speech, by David Wallace. Link: http://www.befreetoday.com.au/this-is-water/
on “Ask HN: What essay/blogpost do you keep going back to reread?” ↗…in another timeline. You are all that is and everything that will be - you just don't fully understand it yet. This response that I'm writing is to myself and yes I'm fully aware of it. You should read this is water by David Foster Wallace to maybe get a glimpse of what I'm talking about but even then it's a very small glimpse of who we truly are. Also you should thank god that you don't live forever. Living forever…
on “Telling the Bees” ↗The best and most honest commencement speech I've ever listened to was David Foster Wallace's to the Kenyon College graduating class of 2005 that has since been published as a short book. It's called "This is Water." There's a heavy liberal arts slant, but it's a great speech. http://vimeo.com/57350121 (audio)
on “Things Your Commencement Speaker Won't Tell You” ↗…Ganar Amigas e Influir Sobre las Personas by Dale Carnegie 11. Without Their Permission by Alexis Ohanian 12. Tribe by Sebastian Junger 13. Sapiens A Brief History of Humanity by Yuval Noah Harari 14. This is Water by David Foster Wallace 15. How Not to Be Wrong. The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg 16. Walt Disney By Neal Gabler 17. The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗I watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI http://www.metastatic.org/text/This%20is%20Water.pdf This is Water - David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech. I watch this from time to time for a similar reasons.
on “Ask HN: How does one overcome the need for instant gratification?” ↗"This is Water", a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace. Whenever I'm overwhelmed with life, stressed about work or relationships or whatever, I read this. I keep it in the kindle app on my phone specifically…
on “Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?” ↗For anyone who hasn't read / listened to David Foster Wallace's This is Water speech, I would highly recommend it. It talks about point 2 of parents comment.
on “Ask HN: What are your “brain hacks” that help you manage everyday situations?” ↗I always go back to "This is Water" by David Foster Wallace. Not technically a book (It was a commencement speech). I keep the pdf on my phone. Puts things in perspective for me when I'm feeling overwhelmed. http://metastatic.org/text/This%20is%20Water.pdf
on “Ask HN: Books to read when you are down and lost” ↗https://fs.blog/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/ Because here’s something else that’s weird but true: in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships.…
on “America’s Obsession with Self-Help” ↗Ok it’s a bit of a stretch as it’s a speech, but “This Is Water” by David Foster Wallace is simply amazing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI
on “Ask HN: What's the most life-changing blog post you've ever read?” ↗I give Tufte's (admittedly imperfect) thoughts on this deck and David Foster Wallace's This is Water (https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/) to every new member of my team to read and make it apparent that I expect them to have command of each document's implications.
on “Death by PowerPoint: the slide that killed seven people (2019)” ↗Amazing - perhaps my favorite graduation speech with "This is water" by David Foster Wallace (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/20/fiction).
on “Bill Watterson Commencement Speech (1990)” ↗