Friday, January 20, 2006

Jon Carroll on DFW

Reminding me of why I loved David Foster Wallace's essay on English usage that appeared in Harper's some years ago, and that I need to get the new DFW book in which it is anthologized.

Quoted from DFW:

"A Democratic Spirit is one that combines rigor and humility, ie, passionate conviction plus a sedulous respect for the convictions of others. As any American knows, this is a difficult spirit to cultivate and maintain, particularly when it comes to issues that you feel strongly about. Equally tough is a DS's criterion of 100 per cent intellectual integrity -- you have to be willing to look honestly at yourself and your motives for believing what you believe, and to do so more or less continually."

1 comment:

Deirdre said...

I recall that you gave me a copy of that DFW grammar essay, and I so loved it, and I passed it on to my boss, who loved it, who passed it to who husband who loved it... I would love to read it again. thanks for providing it to me in the first place.