Beauty and love pass, I know... Oh, there's sadness, too. I suppose all great happiness is a little sad. Beauty means the scent of roses and then the death of roses-
Interpretation
True happiness is intertwined with sadness as beauty and love are transient.
F. Scott Fitzgerald reflects on the fleeting nature of beauty and love, suggesting that they contain an inherent sadness. This duality illustrates that with the joy of experiencing beauty or love comes the understanding that these moments are temporary, thus evoking an awareness of loss that accompanies true happiness.
In practice
This quote resonates in a speech about the complexities of love during a wedding ceremony.
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.
People are so busy chasing happiness- if they would slow down and turn around, they would give it a chance to catch up with them.
The world will be for the common people, and the sounds of Happiness will reach even the deepest springs.
Happiness is not a luxury. It is a necessity. When we are happy, we are in the best possible place to be good to ourselves and those we love.
The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts.
Left to my own devices, would I trade this for firm thighs, fewer wrinkles, a better memory? On some days. That's why it's such a blessing I'm not left to my own devices. Because the truth is I have amazing friends and a deep faith in God, to whom I can turn. I have a cool kid, a sweet boyfriend, darling pets. I've learned to pay attention to life, and to listen. I'd give up all this for a flatter belly? Are you crazy?
I learned you could suffer a terrible tragedy and still be happy again.
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