“ Don't let yourself feel worthless; often through life you will really be at your worst when you seem to think best of yourself; ”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise (1920). copy citation
| Author | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
|---|---|
| Source | This Side of Paradise |
| Topic | self-esteem worth |
| Date | 1920 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/805/805-h/805-h.htm |
Context
“Some nuances of character you will have to take for granted in yourself, though you must be careful in confessing them to others. You are unsentimental, almost incapable of affection, astute without being cunning and vain without being proud. Don't let yourself feel worthless; often through life you will really be at your worst when you seem to think best of yourself; and don't worry about losing your «personality,» as you persist in calling it; at fifteen you had the radiance of early morning, at twenty you will begin to have the melancholy brilliance of the moon, and when you are my age you will give out, as I do, the genial golden warmth of 4 P.M. If you write me letters, please let them be natural ones. 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.”
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Meaning and analysis
