Only once did the celebrated writer and English professor David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) give a public talk on his views on life – during a 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College. In his speech titled This is Water, Wallace probes the following questions: why do so many of us live life unconsciously, unthinkingly? How do we get out of this natural default setting to embrace a world larger than our preoccupations and show compassion? Why does that hold the potential of a life well lived? Using his trademark wit and exacting intellect, Wallace calls us to more fully use our minds to “choose how and what to think” as opposed to being slaves of our default settings, and most important to show grace and compassion to others.

After his untimely death in 2008, Wallace’s speech became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal, the London Times and in book form, and has been commented upon endlessly on the Internet. I recommend you to read the prose of his speech – slowly and deliberately. For those who want something more bite-size, have a go at the following audio version, which affords the pleasure of hearing Wallace himself expound on what it means to not just live, but to be “alive”.

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Another Wallace’s essay, “Consider the Lobster” is also worth reading. When he goes to the Maine Lobster Festival to do a report for Gourmet, Wallace ends up taking his readers along for a deep, cerebral ride. Asking questions like “Do lobsters feel pain?” he turns the whole celebration into a profound breakdown on the meaning of consciousness. 

https://genius.com/David-foster-wallace-consider-the-lobster-annotated