He had possessed the arrogance of a tall member of a short race, with no obligation save to be tall.
Interpretation
The quote critiques arrogance stemming from privilege, highlighting that one's advantages do not justify entitlement.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote reflects on how individuals who possess certain advantages, such as height in this case, may develop a sense of superiority over others. This arrogance is portrayed as unwarranted, as it is simply a result of an innate characteristic rather than an achievement or a moral quality. The focus is on how these privileges can distort self-perception and interpersonal relationships.
In practice
In a discussion about social privilege, this quote can highlight how individuals may act based on their inherent advantages.
Don't be so anxious about it,' she laughed. 'I'm not used to being loved. I wouldn't know what to do; I never got the trick of it.' She looked down at him, shy and fatigued. 'So here we are. I told you years ago that I had the makings of Cinderella.' He took her hand; she drew it back instinctively and then replaced it in his. 'Beg your pardon. Not even used to being touched. But I'm not afraid of you, if you stay quiet and don't move suddenly.
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
It was about then [1920] that I wrote a line which certain people will not let me forget: "She was a faded but still lovely woman of twenty-seven."
The words seemed to bite physically into Gatsby.
But you can love more than just one person, can't you?
A sudden gust of rain blew over them and then another - as if small liquid clouds were bouncing along the land. Lightning entered the sea far off and the air blew full of crackling thunder. The table cloths blew around the pillars. They blew and blew and blew. The flags twisted around the red chairs like live things, the banners were ragged, the corners of the table tore off through the burbling billowing ends of the cloths.
Slavery and freedom cannot exist together.
What does it matter how one comes by the truth so long as one pounces upon it and lives by it?
Infinite power of the spirit, brought to bear upon matter evolves material development, made to act upon thought evolves intellectuality, and made to act upon itself makes of man a God. First, let us be Gods, and then help other to be GOds. Be and Make. Let this be our motto.
The law of violence is not a law, but a simple fact which can only be a law when it does not meet with protest and opposition. It is like the cold, darkness and weight, which people had to put up with until recently when warmth, illumination and leverage were discovered.
When the voice of truth rises from the minarets, the Buddha smiles, and the broken chain of history reconnects.
We live in a world where if you're white, an upper-class male of extreme privilege, and able-bodied, and you're nothing that takes you away from that norm, then you're going to have - then the world will not assign you problems because of what you are. That is actually the world we live in.
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