It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.
Interpretation
A simple act of kindness can brighten someone's day and have a profound impact on their life.
This quote emphasizes the importance of small gestures, like a smile, in creating positive change in the world. Fitzgerald likens a smile to morning light that dispels darkness, suggesting that such simple acts can bring joy and make life more enjoyable for both the giver and the receiver.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of kindness, I would quote Fitzgerald to emphasize a small act's transformative power.
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 year end brings no greater pleasure then the opportunity to express to you season's greetings and good wishes. May your holidays and new year be filled with joy.
Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.
I really love being alive. I love my family and my work. I love the opportunity I have to do things. That's what happiness is.
It's fun to have money, but the more money I get, the less interesting it becomes. If you don't have very much, you have to think about it. If you are starving, you become interested in food. If you are struggling to pay the bills, money becomes tragically important.
Instead of looking for the success in your life, look for the thing that is going to bring you the greatest joy.
I've spent most of my life trying to think my way to happiness, and my failure to achieve that goal only proves, in my mind, that I am not a good enough thinker. It never occurred to me that the source of my unhappiness is not flawed thinking but thinking itself.
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