It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.
Interpretation
A simple act of kindness can brighten someone's day and have a profound impact on their life.
This quote emphasizes the importance of small gestures, like a smile, in creating positive change in the world. Fitzgerald likens a smile to morning light that dispels darkness, suggesting that such simple acts can bring joy and make life more enjoyable for both the giver and the receiver.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of kindness, I would quote Fitzgerald to emphasize a small act's transformative power.
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.
Every single diet I ever fell off of was because of potatoes and gravy of some sort.
Beauty comes in many forms-and there is no form more beautiful than you. Just exactly as you are, this minute, right now, without changing a thing...you are beautiful. Beautiful enough to take God's breath away. You do believe this, don't you? Oh, you must. You must. How can I believe in my beauty if you don't believe in yours?
Happiness lies in making others happy, in forsaking self-interest to bring joy to others.
Happiness is working with Jack Lemmon.
Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour.
Hour of nostalgia, hour of happiness, hour of solitude.
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