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100 Best Quotes By F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Author Of The Great Gatsby

Famous As: Best Known for His Novel 'The Great Gatsby'
Born On: September 24, 1896
Died On: December 21, 1940
Born In: Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
Died At Age: 44
While talking about the legendary writers of the 20th century, one cannot just miss out on the contribution made by F Scott Fitzgerald in the world of literature. Author of the greatest novels of all time, ‘The Great Gatsby’, F Scott Fitzgerald was truly a sheer genius whose works speak out the brilliance that he exuded as a writer, novelist and short-story teller. He perfectly captured the American society, its culture and its life of the 1920s in his works. Though he gained prominence with his first novel, ‘This Side of Paradise’ which was an immediate bestseller and an out and out  sell-out , his best bit came in only in his third venture, ‘The Great Gatsby’ which has become an iconic and classic American literature. It was followed by ‘Tender is the Night’. Fitzgerald showed signs of making in big in the literary world since early. His first published story came in when he was merely 13 opening gateway for a bright future. It was his devotion for writing that made him to leave his academic to pursue a career in writing. His greatness can be assumed from that fact that his works illustrated the Jazz Age. Just like his works, Fitzgerald’s quotes also spelled magic. They covey a deep meaning through limited words and cover a vast variety of aspects of life and living. Explore some of the finest quotes by F Scott Fitzgerald.
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So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.

I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.

The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.

Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
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.

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.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I don't want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again.

I don't want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.

Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.

And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.

And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.

I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I'm not sentimental--I'm as romantic as you are. The idea, you know,
is that the sentimental person thinks things will last--the romantic
person has a desperate confidence that they won't.

I'm not sentimental--I'm as romantic as you are. The idea, you know, is that the sentimental person thinks things will last--the romantic person has a desperate confidence that they won't.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.

Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.

I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.

You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.

There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.

Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.

You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.

It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.

Cut out all these exclamation points. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope.

Reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I want to know you moved and breathed in the same world with me.

I want to know you moved and breathed in the same world with me.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!

Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!

F. Scott Fitzgerald
They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.

They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
You'll find another.' 
God! Banish the thought. Why don't you tell me that 'if the girl had been worth having she'd have waited for you'? No, sir, the girl really worth having won't wait for anybody.

You'll find another.' God! Banish the thought. Why don't you tell me that 'if the girl had been worth having she'd have waited for you'? No, sir, the girl really worth having won't wait for anybody.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I like people and I like them to like me, but I wear my heart where God put it, on the inside.

I like people and I like them to like me, but I wear my heart where God put it, on the inside.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Here's to alcohol, the rose colored glasses of life.

Here's to alcohol, the rose colored glasses of life.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
They’re a rotten crowd’, I shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.

They’re a rotten crowd’, I shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Things are sweeter when they're lost. I know--because once I wanted something and got it. It was the only thing I ever wanted badly, Dot, and when I got it it turned to dust in my hand.

Things are sweeter when they're lost. I know--because once I wanted something and got it. It was the only thing I ever wanted badly, Dot, and when I got it it turned to dust in my hand.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.

In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.

There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.

First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
It’s a great advantage not to drink among hard drinking people.

It’s a great advantage not to drink among hard drinking people.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
All I kept thinking about, over and over, was 'You can't live forever; you can't live forever.

All I kept thinking about, over and over, was 'You can't live forever; you can't live forever.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight.

So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I don’t want just words. If that’s all you have for me, you’d better go

I don’t want just words. If that’s all you have for me, you’d better go

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others--young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.

I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others--young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
It takes two to make an accident.

It takes two to make an accident.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.

No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
It was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being.

It was always the becoming he dreamed of, never the being.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Actually that’s my secret — I can’t even talk about you to anybody because I don’t want any more people to know how wonderful you are.

Actually that’s my secret — I can’t even talk about you to anybody because I don’t want any more people to know how wonderful you are.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
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.

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.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him

If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.

Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I'm a slave to my emotions, to my likes, to my hatred of boredom, to most of my desires.

I'm a slave to my emotions, to my likes, to my hatred of boredom, to most of my desires.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
There is a moment—Oh, just before the first kiss, a whispered word—something that makes it worth while.

There is a moment—Oh, just before the first kiss, a whispered word—something that makes it worth while.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
He looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by a man.

He looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by a man.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I love her, and that's the beginning and end of everything.

I love her, and that's the beginning and end of everything.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind…

There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind…

F. Scott Fitzgerald
...and for a moment I thought I loved her. But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires

...and for a moment I thought I loved her. But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires

F. Scott Fitzgerald
New friends can often have a better time together than old friends.

New friends can often have a better time together than old friends.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Do you ever wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it!

Do you ever wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it!

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I'm a cynical idealist.

I'm a cynical idealist.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
A woman should be able to kiss a man beautifully and romantically without any desire to be either his wife or his mistress.

A woman should be able to kiss a man beautifully and romantically without any desire to be either his wife or his mistress.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I’ve been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library.

I’ve been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I hope something happens. I'm restless as the devil and have a horror of getting fat or falling in love and growing domestic.

I hope something happens. I'm restless as the devil and have a horror of getting fat or falling in love and growing domestic.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
People over forty can seldom be permanently convinced of anything. At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide.

People over forty can seldom be permanently convinced of anything. At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.

Youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Great books write themselves, only bad books have to be written.

Great books write themselves, only bad books have to be written.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Later she remembered all the hours of the afternoon as happy -- one of those uneventful times that seem at the moment only a link between past and future pleasure, but turn out to have been the pleasure itself.

Later she remembered all the hours of the afternoon as happy -- one of those uneventful times that seem at the moment only a link between past and future pleasure, but turn out to have been the pleasure itself.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
She was dazzling-- alight; it was agony to comprehend her beauty in a glance.

She was dazzling-- alight; it was agony to comprehend her beauty in a glance.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I won’t kiss you. It might get to be a habit and I can’t get rid of habits.

I won’t kiss you. It might get to be a habit and I can’t get rid of habits.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
You're the only girl I've seen for a long time that actually did look like something blooming.

You're the only girl I've seen for a long time that actually did look like something blooming.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure.

Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
You're not sorry to go, of course. With people like us our home is where we are not... No one person in the world is necessary to you or to me.

You're not sorry to go, of course. With people like us our home is where we are not... No one person in the world is necessary to you or to me.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Strange children should smile at each other and say,

Strange children should smile at each other and say, "Let's play.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I shall go on shining as a brilliantly meaningless figure in a meaningless world.

I shall go on shining as a brilliantly meaningless figure in a meaningless world.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
When a girl feels that she’s perfectly groomed and dressed she can forget that part of her. That’s charm

When a girl feels that she’s perfectly groomed and dressed she can forget that part of her. That’s charm

F. Scott Fitzgerald
It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again.

It was the kind of voice that the ear follows up and down, as if each speech is an arrangement of notes that will never be played again.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Life is much more successfully looked at from a single window.

Life is much more successfully looked at from a single window.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
It seemed that the only lover she had ever wanted was a lover in a dream.

It seemed that the only lover she had ever wanted was a lover in a dream.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Grown up, and that is a terribly hard thing to do. It is much easier to skip it and go from one childhood to another.

Grown up, and that is a terribly hard thing to do. It is much easier to skip it and go from one childhood to another.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
She was feeling the pressure of the world outside and she wanted to see him and feel his presence beside her and be reassured that she was doing the right thing after all.

She was feeling the pressure of the world outside and she wanted to see him and feel his presence beside her and be reassured that she was doing the right thing after all.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain.

The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Why shouldn't he? All life is just a progression toward and then a recession from one phrase-- 'I love you

Why shouldn't he? All life is just a progression toward and then a recession from one phrase-- 'I love you

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.

I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Life is so damned hard, so damned hard... It just hurts people and hurts people, until finally it hurts them so that they can't be hurt ever any more. That's the last and worst thing it does.

Life is so damned hard, so damned hard... It just hurts people and hurts people, until finally it hurts them so that they can't be hurt ever any more. That's the last and worst thing it does.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
All good writing is like swimming underwater and holding your breath.

All good writing is like swimming underwater and holding your breath.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
If I knew words enough, I could write the longest love letter in the world and never get tired

If I knew words enough, I could write the longest love letter in the world and never get tired

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Well, let it pass, he thought; April is over, April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice.

--The Sensible Thing

Well, let it pass, he thought; April is over, April is over. There are all kinds of love in the world, but never the same love twice. --The Sensible Thing

F. Scott Fitzgerald
I’m not sure what I’ll do, but— well, I want to go places and see people. I want my mind to grow. I want to live where things happen on a big scale.

I’m not sure what I’ll do, but— well, I want to go places and see people. I want my mind to grow. I want to live where things happen on a big scale.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
So he tasted the deep pain that is reserved only for the strong, just as he had tasted for a little while the deep happiness.

So he tasted the deep pain that is reserved only for the strong, just as he had tasted for a little while the deep happiness.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
An artist is someone who can hold two opposing viewpoints and still remain fully functional.

An artist is someone who can hold two opposing viewpoints and still remain fully functional.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.

Tired, tired with nothing, tired with everything, tired with the world’s weight he had never chosen to bear.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?” cried Daisy, “and the day after that, and the next thirty years?

What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?” cried Daisy, “and the day after that, and the next thirty years?

F. Scott Fitzgerald
If you spend your life sparing people’s feelings and feeding their vanity, you get so you can’t distinguish what should be respected in them.

If you spend your life sparing people’s feelings and feeding their vanity, you get so you can’t distinguish what should be respected in them.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
It is not life that's complicated, it's the struggle to guide and control life.

It is not life that's complicated, it's the struggle to guide and control life.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known—and even that is an understatement.

You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known—and even that is an understatement.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.

The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Unloved women have no biographies-- they have histories

Unloved women have no biographies-- they have histories

F. Scott Fitzgerald
You know I'm old in some ways-in others-well, I'm just a little girl. I like sunshine and pretty things and cheerfulness-and I dread responsibility.

You know I'm old in some ways-in others-well, I'm just a little girl. I like sunshine and pretty things and cheerfulness-and I dread responsibility.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Think how you love me,

Think how you love me," she whispered. "I don’t ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside me there’ll always be the person I am to-night.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes.

Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
We all have souls of different ages

We all have souls of different ages

F. Scott Fitzgerald
So we'll just let things take their course, and never be sorry.

So we'll just let things take their course, and never be sorry.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Genius is the ability to put into effect what is on your mind.

Genius is the ability to put into effect what is on your mind.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mother says that two souls are sometimes created together and--and in love before they're born.

Mother says that two souls are sometimes created together and--and in love before they're born.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.

F. Scott Fitzgerald
You're a slave, a bound helpless slave to one thing in this world, your imagination.

You're a slave, a bound helpless slave to one thing in this world, your imagination.

F. Scott Fitzgerald