Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.
Zelda FitzgeraldRead
It seemed to Alabama that, reaching her goal, she would drive the devils that had driven her - that, in proving herself, she would achieve that peace which she imagined went only in surety of one’s self - that she would be able, through the medium of the dance, to command her emotions, to summon love or pity or happiness at will, having provided a channel through which they might flow. She drove herself mercilessly, and the summer dragged on.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the struggle for self-empowerment and emotional mastery through personal achievement.
In this quote, Zelda Fitzgerald illustrates the internal conflict of a woman striving to reach her goals while battling her own demons. She believes that by achieving success and mastering her emotions through dance, she can attain a sense of peace and control over her life, yet the relentless pursuit of these aspirations leads to a rather merciless self-discipline, hinting at the toll such ambitions can take on one's well-being.
In practice
During a motivational speech about overcoming personal barriers.
Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.
She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring.
The night you gave me my birthday party... you were a young Lieutenant and I was a fragrant phantom, wasn't I? And it was a radiant night, a night of soft conspiracy and the trees agreed that it was all going to be for the best.
A southern moon is a sodden moon, and sultry. When it swamps the fields and the rustling sandy roads and the sticky honeysuckle hedges in its sweet stagnation, your fight to hold on to reality is like a protestation against a first waft of ether.
There seemed to be some heavenly support beneath his shoulder blades that lifted his feet from the ground in ecstatic suspension, as if he secretly enjoyed the ability to fly but was walking as a compromise to convention.
I remember every single spot of light that ever gouged a shadow beside your bones.
Let us do our duty in our shop or our kitchen, in the market, the street, the office, the school, the home, just as faithfully as if we stood in the front rank of some great battle, and knew that victory for mankind depended on our bravery, strength, and skill. When we do that, the humblest of us will be serving in that great army which achieves the welfare of the world.
I've wanted to be a writer since I was a boy, though it seemed an unlikely outcome since I showed no real talent. But I persevered and eventually found my own row to hoe. Ignorance of other writers' work keeps me from discouragement and I am less well-read than the average bus driver.
There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going.
If it's important to you and you want to do it 'eventually', just do it and correct course along the way.
There is no excuse for not trying.
In tennis, it is not the opponent you fear, it is the failure itself, knowing how near you were but just out of reach.
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