The cleverly expressed opposite of any generally accepted idea is worth a fortune to somebody.
Interpretation
Challenging widely accepted ideas can lead to valuable insights and opportunities.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote highlights the importance of questioning and opposing conventional wisdom. It suggests that the ability to articulate counterarguments or alternative perspectives can be extremely valuable, potentially yielding great rewards for those who can successfully navigate and challenge the status quo.
In practice
In a debate about climate change, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of alternative perspectives.
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.
You can measure the depth of a person's awakening by how they serve others
The sage wears clothes of coarse cloth but carries jewels in his bosom; He knows himself but does not display himself; He loves himself but does not hold himself in high esteem.
When an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived.
Pity is one of the noblest emotions available to human beings; self-pity is possibly the most ignoble . . . . [It] is an incapacity, a crippling emotional disease that severely distorts our perception of reality . . . a narcotic that leaves its addicts wasted and derelict.
Don’t ever underestimate the importance of money. I know it’s often been said that money won’t make you happy and this is undeniably true, but everything else being equal, it’s a lovely thing to have around the house.
If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake.
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