Grown up, and that is a terribly hard thing to do. It is much easier to skip it and go from one childhood to another.
Interpretation
Growing up is a difficult process that requires effort, unlike the ease of remaining in a perpetual state of childhood.
In this quote, F. Scott Fitzgerald reflects on the challenges of adulthood and the maturity that comes with it. He suggests that many people find it simpler to avoid the responsibilities and complexities of growing up, preferring instead to navigate life in a childlike state, which lacks depth and growth. The quote underscores the significance of embracing the arduous journey of maturity to fully understand life and oneself.
In practice
In a graduation speech, one might encourage young adults to embrace the challenges of growing up rather than resisting them.
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 universe hands you opportunities for a while, and if you don't take them, the universe says to itself, 'Oh I see, this person doesn't like opportunities' and stops giving them to you.
While new rights are attributed to or indeed almost presumed by the individual, life is not always protected as the primary value and the primordial right of every human being. The ultimate aim of medicine remains the defence and promotion of life.
Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg, fall in love, or drop a jar of applesauce.
English is the only interesting thing that's left in my life.
I am older than everyone I ever knew. All my dogs are dead. Half a dozen cats, parakeets... all gone.
I have long understood that losing always comes with the territory when you wander into the gambling business, just as getting crippled for life is an acceptable risk in the linebacker business. They both are extremely violent sports, and pain is part of the bargain. Buy the ticket, take the ride.
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