The Great Gatsby Quotes

By Kari and Sara

• “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

• Nick says this at the end of the movie/book when talking about Gatsby’s death and how Gatsby spent his life in the past, running into obstacles while trying to stay in the past with Daisy, instead of moving on and going with “the current” and live his own future. Staying in the past ultimately resulted in his death. In real life we face obstacles like waves, trying to keep moving forward instead of returning to the past when we should just go with the current instead of fight against it.

• “I hope she'll be a fool -- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

• Daisy says this when talking about finding out the gender of her daughter when she was born, pretending that she is happy that it’s a girl when she knows that women in her current social environment are not valued as intelligent. Daisy wishes that her daughter be a fool to the way society sees women and that she will be happier if she is not as worrisome of her life and more simple than she is so she can enjoy life.

• “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.”

• This quote is said by Nick Carraway when talking about Gatsby and how

• “You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me.”

• Gatsby says this when talking about how he pursues the company of others, whether they’re strangers or not to distract himself not only from his sad past being poor but also the fact that he’s not with the one person he wishes to be with, Daisy.

• “I was within and without. Simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

• Nick says this when peering out the window, and thinking about the current society standard of 1920’s party lifestyle, which is both enticing and exhausting at the same time. As he peers out the window, he looks into the windows of other peoples lives, seeing how much variety there is with such a quickly changing era.