The notion of sitting down and conjuring up, not only words in which to clothe thoughts but thoughts worthy of being clothed--the whole thing was absurdly beyond his desires.
Interpretation
Fitzgerald reflects on the struggle of expressing profound thoughts through language.
In this quote, F. Scott Fitzgerald discusses the challenging act of articulating deep thoughts in a way that does them justice. He suggests that the task of not only finding suitable words but also generating worthy ideas to express is overwhelming and may exceed one's aspirations or desires. This speaks to the universal struggle of writers and artists trying to capture the essence of their thoughts and emotions artfully.
In practice
A writer might share this quote during a workshop to emphasize the challenges of articulating thoughts.
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 beautiful thing in the world is a ballpark filled with people.
Directing is creating a whole. You're able to combine different elements and create a film that is unique and true to your vision.
I photographed the entire thing in color because to photograph it in black and white would be to keep it as a tragedy. Because there is a tragic element to photographing, in this case not war, but the collapse. It was just destruction.
What I do is creative. It doesn't seem like that when I'm playing a piece that was written in the past, but the score is just the outline and everything in it is relative. The key is to make this piece written by someone else belong to you and then connect to the audience.
I often recall these words when I am writing, and I think to myself, βItβs true. There arenβt any new words. Our job is to give new meanings and special overtones to absolutely ordinary words.β I find the thought reassuring. It means that vast, unknown stretches still lie before us, fertile territories just waiting for us to cultivate them.
Vision is the Art of seeing Things invisible.
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