On Blank by Blank, David Foster Wallace on the dangers of perfectionism:
“You know, the whole thing about perfectionism. The perfectionism is very dangerous, because of course if your fidelity to perfectionism is too high, you never do anything. Because doing anything results in— It’s actually kind of tragic because it means you sacrifice how gorgeous and perfect it is in your head for what it really is.”
Listen to the entire WNYC David Foster Wallace interview with Leonard Lopate here, where David discusses writing Infinite Jest:
“The book is imperfect, but I also know that the book is exactly the best that I could have done.”
Don’t let your commitment to perfection keep you from doing anything. What you do can be gorgeous if you don’t get in your own way.
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