“ You are bound to go up and down, just as I did in my youth, but do keep your clarity of mind, and if fools or sages dare to criticise don't blame yourself too much. ”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise (1920). copy citation
| Author | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
|---|---|
| Source | This Side of Paradise |
| Topic | wisdom clarity critics |
| Date | 1920 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/805/805-h/805-h.htm |
Context
“Your last, that dissertation on architecture, was perfectly awful— so «highbrow» that I picture you living in an intellectual and emotional vacuum; and beware of trying to classify people too definitely into types; you will find that all through their youth they will persist annoyingly in jumping from class to class, and by pasting a supercilious label on every one you meet you are merely packing a Jack-in-the-box that will spring up and leer at you when you begin to come into really antagonistic contact with the world. An idealization of some such a man as Leonardo da Vinci would be a more valuable beacon to you at present. You are bound to go up and down, just as I did in my youth, but do keep your clarity of mind, and if fools or sages dare to criticise don't blame yourself too much. You say that convention is all that really keeps you straight in this «woman proposition»; but it's more than that, Amory; it's the fear that what you begin you can't stop; you would run amuck, and I know whereof I speak; it's that half-miraculous sixth sense by which you detect evil, it's the half-realized fear of God in your heart.”
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