I never heard F. Scot Fitzgerald say this things, of course, but these have been attributed to him.
"That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong."
"First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you."
"Cut out the exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke."
"Writers aren't people exactly. Or, if they're any good, they're a whole lot of people trying so hard to be one person."
"All writing is like swimming underwater and holding your breath."
"Genius is the ability to put into effect what is on your mind."
"Often I think writing is a sheer paring away of oneself leaving always something thinner, barer, more meagre."
"Mostly, we authors must repeat ourselves – that's the truth. We have two or three great moving experiences in our lives – experiences so great and moving that it doesn't seem at the time that anyone else has been so caught up and pounded and dazzled and astonished and beaten and broken and rescued and illuminated and rewarded and humbled in just that way before."
"You can stroke people with words."
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function."
"Action is character."
"Nobody ever became a writer by just wanting to be one."
"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy."
The last line of THE GREAT GATSBY. It always moves me.
Ernest Hemingway once described F. Scott Fitzgerald this way. "He is the great tragedy of talent of our bloody generation."
All terrific quotes, O'Neil. But I particularly like the second one.
ReplyDeleteI love, "Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy"
ReplyDeleteWonderful! Let's hope that somewhere, he and Zelda are dancing without a care in the world!
ReplyDeleteAnd the quote for our times, from Gatsby:
ReplyDelete“They were careless people. They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
O'Neil, definitely words to think about.
ReplyDeleteEve, a very fitting quote for our current situation.
Enjoyed this. I've heard (and used) that quote about exclamation points, but didn't realize it was Fitzgerald's.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought this among the most beautiful paragraphs ever written. It really shouldn't work, being almost too wise for Nick. But it totally works.
ReplyDeleteSummarize the plot of The Great Gatsby without mentioning the characters names and anyone will recognize it as classic noir.
ReplyDelete