I wish I could write. I get these ideas but I never seem to be able to put them in words.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a longing to express one's thoughts and ideas through writing, but encountering difficulty in doing so.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote reveals the struggle that many creative individuals face: the challenge of translating profound ideas into written words. It reflects a deep desire to write and communicate thoughts effectively, highlighting the frustration that comes from an inability to articulate one's inner vision. This sentiment resonates with anyone who has grappled with the complexities of expression, emphasizing the gap between inspiration and execution.
In practice
In a writing workshop, to encourage fellow writers who feel blocked or frustrated.
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.
Between beauty of expression and power of expression there is a difference of function. The first aims at pleasing the senses, the second has a spiritual vitality which for me is more moving and goes deeper than the senses.
I cannot imagine any writer who would not fight for his peace and quiet.
In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.
You should create a work that is so valuable it might eventually sell at a high price, but you've got to concentrate on how you create that artwork.
No picture is made to endure nor to live with but it is made to sell and sell quickly with usura, sin against nature, is thy bread ever more of stale rags is thy bread dry as paper.
That's still the greatest high, that feeling of being in control of 2,000 people. It's me and them, and I like the odds. It's not even so much the funny. It's getting them quiet. In the quiet moments in '700 Sundays,' I just really love that they're getting moved.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.