David fauster walis thi is water

Essay by David Foster Wallace

This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life is an essay by David Foster Wallace.

The text originates from a commencement speech Wallace gave at Kenyon College on May 21, 2005. The essay was published in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2006 and in 2009 its format was stretched by Little, Brown and Company to fill 138 pages for a book publication.^[1] A transcript of the speech circulated online as early as June 2005.^[2]

This is the only public speech Wallace ever gave outlining his outlook on life.^[3]Time magazine has ranked This Is Water among the best commencement speeches ever delivered.^[4]

Background

David Foster Wallace was brought to Kenyon College at the request of an English and philosophy student in 2005.

He was the winning nominee out of 10 to 12 others, beating out then-Senator Hillary Clinton, and astronaut tu