The idea that to make a man work you've got to hold gold in front of his eyes is a growth, not an axiom. We've done that for so long that we've forgotten there's any other way.
Interpretation
Motivating people through material rewards is a learned behavior, not an inherent truth.
F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that the traditional approach to motivating individuals by dangling material rewards, like money or gold, is a learned behavior rather than a fundamental truth about human nature. This perspective encourages reflection on alternative ways to inspire and engage individuals that do not solely rely on materialistic incentives, highlighting the need for a broader approach to motivation.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about employee motivation in the workplace.
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.
If we shall take the good we find, asking no questions, we shall have heaping measures.
They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold; and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price.
Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.
You must not only learn to live with tension, you must seek it out. You must learn to thrive on stress.
Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.
There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.
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