I read a lot of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I love "Tender is the Night," and its atmosphere of doomed romance. He was one of the greatest prose stylists, with a wonderfully clear but lyrical quality.
Was it the happiest day of our lives? Probably not, if only because the truly happy days tend not to involve so much organisation, are rarely so public or so expensive. The happy ones sneak up, unexpected.
Perhaps grief is as much regret for what we have never had, as sorrow for what we have lost.
"I love you" is an interesting phrase, in that apparently small alterations–taking away the I, adding a word like lots or loads–render it meaningless.
Emotional intelligence, the perfect oxymoron!
From an evolutionary point of view, most emotions - fear, desire, anger - serve some practical purpose, but nostalgia is a useless, futile thing because it is a longing for something that is permanently lost.
Weißt du, die Leute lügen, wenn sie sagen, nichts sei so stark wie die Liebe. Das ist eine der größten und gemeinsten Lügen überhaupt. Liebe ist nicht stark. Sie ist so verletzlich wie nur irgendwas. Und wenn wir nicht achtgeben, dann zerbricht sie wie Glas.
He wanted to live life in such a way that if a photograph were taken at random, it would be a cool photograph.
If you have to keep a secret it's because you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.
"So - whatever happened to you?"
"Life. Life happened."
"Life. Life happened."
And then some days you wake up and everything's perfect.
I think reality is overrated.
And of course there is always joy in witnessing the joy of others.
People change, no use getting sentimental about it. Move on, find someone else.
He's a better person when she's around, and isn't that what friends are for, to raise you up and keep you at your best?
Envy was just the tax you paid on success.
She was reaching the limits of how much it's possible to change a man.
"Live each day as if it's your last", that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold and to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Go out there with your passion and your electric typewriter and work hard at...something. Change lives through art maybe. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance.
The problem with telling people that they can do anything they want to do is that it is objectively, factually inaccurate. Otherwise the whole world would just be ballet dancers and pop stars.
Du bist der Hammer, altes Mädchen, und wenn ich dir für den Rest deines Lebens nur noch eine Sache schenken könnte,wäre das: Selbstvertrauen. Das Geschenk des Selbstvertrauens. Das oder eine Duftkerze.
