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. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was.

Long afterward Amory thought of sophomore spring as the happiest time of his life. His ideas were in tune with life as he found it; he wanted no more than to drift and dream and enjoy a dozen new-found friendships through the April afternoons.

It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living.

For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened - then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret, like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk.

You don’t know what a trial it is to be —like me. I've got to keep my face like steel in the street to keep men from winking at me.

There's no substitute for will. Sometimes you have to fake will when you don't feel it at all.

Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.