F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel, “The Great Gatsby”, showcases a variety of profound and insightful lines. It’s a rich source of inspiring and thought-provoking quotes, especially those by the novel’s enigmatic character, Jay Gatsby. The true depth of Gatsby’s character unfolds as the novel progresses, and it’s the essence of his persistent dream, relentless hope, and tragic end that we remember him by. Here, we’ve collected 25 poignant Gatsby quotes that delve into his complex character.
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“He did extraordinary well in the war. He was a captain before he went to the front and following the Argonne battles he got his majority and the command of the divisional machine guns.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“Can’t repeat the past?…Why of course you can!” – Jay Gatsby
“You can’t live forever; you can’t live forever.” – Jay Gatsby
“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people – his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“I wasn’t actually in love, but I felt a sort of tender curiosity.” – Jay Gatsby
“I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before.” – Jay Gatsby
“Her voice is full of money.” – Jay Gatsby
“He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair.” – Jay Gatsby
“He looked at her the way all women want to be looked at by a man.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“It’s a great advantage not to drink among hard-drinking people.” – Jay Gatsby
“He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” – Jay Gatsby
“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“I was glad it was a great big one because I had so many people to call and what a time we were going to have on it.” – Jay Gatsby
“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others–poor young clerks who loitered in front of windows waiting until it was time for a solitary restaurant dinner–young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.” – Jay Gatsby
“I was thirty. Before me stretched the portentous menacing road of a new decade.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
“Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.” – Jay Gatsby
“Tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
In the realm of literature, few characters embody dreams, aspiration, and tragedy as vividly as Jay Gatsby does. He stands as a powerful reminder of the profound human desire for love, success, and a better future. Which of these quotes resonates with you the most? What are your interpretations of Gatsby’s words? If you have any favorite Gatsby quotes not included here, feel free to share them in the comments. Let’s continue the conversation about this fascinating character.