Well, I can't describe her exactly-except to say that she was beautiful. She was-tremendously alive.
Interpretation
The quote describes the profound beauty and vitality of a woman, conveying that her essence is beyond mere words.
In this quote, F. Scott Fitzgerald reflects on the essence of a woman's beauty, which transcends physical appearance and resonates in her vibrancy and spirit. The speaker struggles to articulate her qualities, illustrating that true beauty embodies a sense of liveliness that impacts those around her, leaving a lasting impression that words alone cannot capture.
In practice
In a speech about inspiring individuals, one might refer to this quote when discussing the impact of personality on beauty.
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 most powerful hallucinogen in this planet is called Love. Highly Addictive! You will see and hear things that don't exist!
I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most important discovery of my life: It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reasons can be found.
You are the drop,and the ocean you are kindness,you are anger, you are sweetness,you are poison. Do not make me more disheartened. you are the chamber of the sun, you are the abode of venus, you are the garden of all hope. Oh, Beloved, let me enter.
You'se something tuh make uh man forgit to git old and forgit tuh die.
The tears that kept Buttercup company the remainder of the day were not at all like those that had blinded her into the tree trunk. Those were noisy and hot; they pulsed. These were silent and steady and all they did was remind her that she wasn’t good enough. She was seventeen, and every male she’d ever known had crumbled at her feet and it meant nothing. The one time it really mattered, she wasn’t good enough.
Love is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity.
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