These lights, this brightness, these clusters of human hope, of wild desire—I shall take these lights in my fingers. I shall make them bright, and whether they shine or not, it is in these fingers that they shall succeed or fail.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the individual's power to impact hope and desire regardless of external circumstances.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote reflects on the importance of personal agency in the pursuit of dreams and aspirations. It suggests that, although the outcome of hopes and desires may be uncertain, it is ultimately the individual's effort and determination that drive success or failure. This highlights a profound belief in self-empowerment and the responsibility one holds to shape their own destiny through action and commitment.
In practice
In a motivational speech about pursuing dreams, one might use this quote to inspire the audience.
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.
I want people to understand my journey and to be inspired by that. You can be an immigrant, and if you work really hard, you can have your own restaurant.
Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the future.
There is a light in this world, a healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometimes lose sight of this force when there is suffering, too much pain. Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways.
The brightest star on a cloudless night_x000D_ _x000D_ Some kind of miracle, almost empty sky..._x000D_ _x000D_ Just as the bite of the blade wakes the absent mind_x000D_ _x000D_ There's time to dream and there's time to open your eyes
I'm looking for a way out of here. I can't have it physically, so I'm going to have it intellectually. It was a beautiful thing to ride Seabiscuit in my imagination. And it's just fantastic to be there alongside Louie as he's breaking the NCAA mile record. People at these vigorous moments in their lives - it's my way of living vicariously.
When you enchant people, your goal is not to make money from them or to get them to do what you want, but to fill them with great delight.
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