To a profound pessimist about life, being in danger is not depressing.
Interpretation
A deep pessimist finds that even danger does not bring them down, highlighting their bleak outlook on life.
In this quote, Fitzgerald reflects on the mindset of a profound pessimist, suggesting that their negative perception of life is so ingrained that even the experience of danger fails to evoke a typical emotional response such as fear or depression. This implies that for someone who views life through such a dark lens, the typical stresses and threats of existence are almost numbing, reinforcing a sad but profound understanding of human sentiment in the face of adversity.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about mental health perspectives in literature.
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.
The world is not dialectical - it is sworn to extremes, not to equilibrium, sworn to radical antagonism, not to reconciliation or synthesis. This is also the principle of evil.
The Constitution cannot protect us unless we protect the Constitution.
No one could have fathomed what a life he'd led, for it was chiefly a life lived in his mind.
War is not in itself a condition so much as the symptom of a condition, that of international anarchy. If we wish to substitute for war the settlement of disputes by justice, we must first substitute for the condition of international anarchy a condition of international order
Let me go: take back thy gift: Why should a man desire in any way To vary from the kindly race of men, Or pass beyond the goal of ordinance Where all should pause, as is most meet for all? ...Why wilt thou ever scare me with thy tears, And make me tremble lest a saying learnt, In days far-off, on that dark earth, be true? βThe Gods themselves cannot recall their gifts.β - Tithonus
One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train.
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