I think the key word is "worship". Not e.g. "value intellect" etc. but worship it. I draw a parallel to sports. It's easy for young athletes to "worship" abili

I think the key word is "worship". Not e.g. "value intellect" etc. but worship it. I draw a parallel to sports. It's easy for young athletes to "worship" ability in their sport...to the point where, when you achieve success, you look down on those who are worse than you and look up to those who are better. Reality is that while athletic accomplishment is admirable it does not automatically make you a good person and vice versa. My experience with "intelligence" has been a bit similar although I have found that smart people I encounter also tend to be wonderful human beings. But I know correlation is not causation. Anyway, my point is that I think there's an unhealthy "worship" vs a healthy "value" of intelligence beauty etc, and DFW's quote makes sense to me from that perspective.