Then a strange thing happened. She turned to him and smiled, and as he saw her smile every rag of anger and hurt vanity dropped from him β as though his very moods were but the outer ripples of her own, as though emotion rose no longer in his breast unless she saw fit to pull an omnipotent controlling thread.
Interpretation
The quote describes the overwhelming power of a loved one's smile to transform feelings of anger and hurt into peace and joy.
In this quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author illustrates the profound impact that a simple smile from a loved one can have on our emotional state. The character experiences a transformative moment where all negative feelings dissipate, highlighting how closely our emotions can be tied to the presence and reactions of those we care for. This reflects the deep interconnectedness in relationships, where one person's joy can dramatically influence another's mood and feelings.
In practice
In a speech about the power of love, one might use this quote to illustrate how relationships can uplift us.
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 must be our own before we can be another's.
Women forget all the things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget.
There is a reason the word belonging has a synonym for want at its center; it is the human condition.
Sex is full of lies. The body tries to tell the truth. But, it's usually too battered with rules to be heard, and bound with pretenses so it can hardly move. We cripple ourselves with lies.
Self sufficiency appears to be a worthy goal, but it's now impossible if you want to actually get anything done. All our productivity, leverage and insight comes from being part of a community, not apart from it. The goal, I think, is to figure out how to become more dependent, not less.
Sex without love is as hollow and ridiculous as love without sex.
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