“ […]there’s something kind of timelessly vital and sacred about good writing. This thing doesn’t have that much to do with talent, even glittering talent… Talent’s just an instrument. It’s like having a pen that works instead of one that doesn’t. I’m not saying I’m able to work consistently out of that premise, but it seems like the big distinction between good art and so-so art lies somewhere in the art’s heart’s purpose, the agenda of the consciousness behind the text. It’s got something to do with love. With having the discipline to talk out of that part or yourself that can love instead of the part that just wants to be loved.
David Foster Wallace, on writing. This particular quote was recited by Zadie Smith at a memorial service for DFW at New York University.
<HTMLGIANT>, the blog in which this quote was found, responds: “Writing as an act of love. If that sounds cheesey, we need more cheese.”
