I'm inclined to reserve all judgement, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the importance of withholding judgment to understand others better, even at the risk of misinterpretation.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote emphasizes the value of reserving judgment in interactions with others, suggesting that this practice can lead to deeper connections and insights into people's lives. He acknowledges that by being open and curious about others’ experiences, one may inadvertently attract the attention of those who are different or misunderstood. This openness can create misunderstandings, such as being misidentified as a politician due to the depth of understanding shown toward marginalized individuals.
In practice
In a speech about empathy, I could use this quote to illustrate the importance of understanding others.
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.
We live in a society of an imposed forgetfulness, a society that depends on public amnesia.
I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong.
If a Christian really believed that his neighbor will be tortured in all eternity in Hell, he should try day and night to persuade him to repent and believe. How sad that this doesn't happen.
Life is a disease, brother, and death begins already at birth. Every breath, every heartbeat, is a moment of dying - a little shove toward the end.
This whole religion revolves around knowing the truth and acting by it, and action must be accompanied by patience.
He has no right to his life when his duty calls him to resign it. Other men are bound... to deprive him of life or liberty, if that should appear in any case to be indispensably necessary to prevent a greater evil.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.