Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.
Interpretation
True vitality lies in the ability to both keep going and to begin anew when necessary.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote emphasizes that genuine vitality is not merely about resilience or the capacity to endure challenges; it also encompasses the courage and strength needed to restart and embrace new beginnings. This perspective highlights the importance of adaptability and continuous growth in the journey of life, suggesting that successful individuals recognize the power of renewal as much as they recognize the value of perseverance.
In practice
Using this quote during a motivational speech to encourage people facing setbacks.
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.
Character produces endurance and persistence when the going gets tough, and life truly is an endurance race, not a sprint.
Never, however, do I take shortcuts. There is not path of least resistance in my training. What I do equates to hard manual labor, disciplined grunt work. Once you permit yourself to compromise, you fail yourself. You might be able to fool some people, but you can never fool yourself. Your toughest critic is the one you face every morning in the mirror.
Make the decision and say, "I'm not letting that worry in. I'm done being upset when my plans don't work out. I'm not letting that stress in." Negative thoughts will still come to your mind, but you don't have to let them into your spirit.
A lot of fans were drawn to me because they knew that whatever the score was, I was going to run as hard as I could on every play. You don't have that now, you have guys waiting for next week or even next year.
The only people without problems are those in cemeteries. It is not what happens to us that separates failures from successes. It is how we perceive and what we do about what happens that makes the difference.
Don't talk age! Age has nothing to do with it. One of my guys who started out at my gym is 87 now, and he still does ten bench-press reps with a hundred-pound dumbbell in each hand. He's training to set a leg-pressing record. I put things in the guy's brain way back when, and now he'll never get away from it.
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