The purpose of a work of fiction is to appeal to the lingering after-effects in the reader's mind as differing from, say, the purpose of oratory or philosophy which respectively leave people in a fighting or thoughtful mood.
F. Scott FitzgeraldWhen I see a beautiful shell like that I can't help feeling a regret about what's inside it.
F. Scott FitzgeraldBaltimore is warm but pleasant... I belong here, where everything is civilized and gay and rotted and polite.
F. Scott FitzgeraldThat's the whole burden of this novel - the loss of those illusions that give such color to the world that you don't care whether things are true or false as long as they partake of the magical glory.
F. Scott Fitzgerald