I have never wished there was a God to call on- I have often wished there was a God to thank.

the growth of intimacy is like that. First one gives off his best picture, the bright and finished product mended with bluff and falsehood and humour. Then more details are required and one paints a second portrait, and a third – before long the best lines cancel out – and the secret is exposed at last; the planes of the pictures have intermingled and given us away, and though we paint and paint we can no longer sell a picture. We must be satisfied with hoping that such fatuous accounts of ourselves as we make to our wives and children and business associates are accepted as true

we both fitted. If our corners were not rubbed off they were at least pulled in. But deep in us both was something that made us require more for happiness. I didn't know what I wanted

I'm a cynical idealist.

Books are like brothers. I am an only child. Gatsby [is] my imaginary eldest brother.

Nothing is as obnoxious as other people's luck.

His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him.