Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry.
Interpretation
This quote reflects a contrast between the acceptance of servitude and the rejection of a lower social status.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote suggests that while Americans may tolerate being in positions of servitude or subservience at times, they are fundamentally resistant to the idea of being considered part of a lower social class or peasantry. It highlights a cultural pride and an intrinsic belief in individual dignity, which drives a desire for upward mobility and personal autonomy, contrasting servile roles with a rejection of class-based identities.
In practice
In a speech about social class, one might use this quote to emphasize the American spirit of resilience.
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.
Given - and this is the fundamental thing - that God's mercy has no limits, if He is approached with a sincere and repentant heart, the question for those who do not believe in God is to abide by their own conscience. There is sin, also for those who have no faith, in going against one's conscience. Listening to it and abiding by it means making up one's mind about what is good and evil.
I cannot command winds and weather.
The bad man desires arbitrary power. What moves the evil man is the love of injustice.
The most important question we must ask ourselves is, 'Are we being good ancestors?'
Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends! Hath he not always treasures, always friends, The good great man? Three treasures, love and light, And calm thoughts, regular as infants' breath; And three firm friends, more sure than day and night, Himself, his Maker, and the angel Death.
There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.
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