Children Quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald
““From the night into his high-walled room there came, persistently, that evanescent and dissolving sound - something the city was tossing up and calling back again, like a child playing with a ball. In Harlem, the Bronx, Gramercy Park, and along the water-fronts, in little parlors or on pebble-strewn, moon-flooded roofs, a thousand lovers were making this sound, crying little fragments of it into the air. All the city was playing with this sound out there in the blue summer dark, throwing it up and calling it back, promising that, in a little while, life would be beautiful as a story, promising happiness - and by that promise giving it. It gave love hope in its own survival. It could do no more.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
The city’s night sounds symbolize fleeting hope and collective yearning for a beautiful future, yet they can only sustain love briefly.
In simple terms: City sounds represent fleeting hope and collective love.
Key Takeaway
Recognize the limits of fleeting hope.
Themes
hope
love
city life
transience
illusion
Mood
melancholic
reflective
hopeful
Type
literary
philosophical
poetic
When to use this quote
- night walks
- creative writing
- relationship reflection
- urban planning
- music composition
Key Concepts
existentialism
romanticism
urbanism
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the night sound represent for you?
- How do you sustain hope when it feels fleeting?
A Different Perspective
Hope can be fragile and may not endure beyond the moment.
