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.
Dying in the sanitary environment of a hospital is a relatively new concept. In the late 19th century, dying at a hospital was reserved for people who had nothing and no one. Given the choice, a person wanted to die at home in their bed, surrounded by friends and family.
Monks are not expected to speak about themselves; the message is important, not the person.
Human beings make a strange fauna and flora. From a distance they appear negligible; close up they are apt to appear ugly and malicious. More than anything they need to be surrounded with sufficient space―space even more than time.
No American should be killed by a drone on American soil without first being charged with a crime, without first being found guilty of a crime by a court.
I am a law only for my kind, I am no law for all.
A man should be upright, not kept upright.
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