Air Quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald
““If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream. He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass. A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about...like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Great Gatsby (excerpt), 1925
A dreamer confronts a surreal, alien landscape, feeling loss and awe at raw, new reality.
In simple terms: Facing an unfamiliar world brings both fear and wonder.
Key Takeaway
Accept change and seek meaning in the unknown.
Themes
existence
illusion
loss
discovery
nature
Mood
melancholic
wonderful
Type
literary
inspirational
When to use this quote
- artistic inspiration
- personal crisis
- spiritual awakening
Key Concepts
existentialism
surrealism
perception
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the “new world” symbolize for you?
- How do you find beauty in unsettling change?
A Different Perspective
The poetic description may obscure practical guidance for coping.
![“Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs [Less Developed Countries]?... I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that... I’ve always…” quote by Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ac4/lawrence-summers-16940_air_just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-wo_4703.jpg)
![“[A]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air. And be careful what you swallow.” quote by Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/da8/dr-seuss-1224_advice_a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-f_6806.jpg)