English resources/The Great Gatsby
Gatsby quotes, in plain words
Every big line from the book. Who says it, where, and what it means. Start with the twenty marked with a dot.
Download all of this as a PDF · put it in your drive, print it, share it. No sign-up. · Printable quote cards
Learn these twenty first
Short enough to remember. Between them they cover the book.
Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.
Nick's father · Chapter 1 · class · honesty
Nick's father tells him not to judge. Nick repeats it. He still judges.
an extraordinary gift for hope
Nick · Chapter 1 · the American dream · love
This is what Nick cannot drop about Gatsby. Hope, not the parties.
that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool
Daisy · Chapter 1 · class · love
Daisy hopes her daughter is a fool. She thinks that is the safest thing a girl can be.
a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock
Nick · Chapter 1 · the American dream · the past · love
Nick sees Gatsby reaching for a light across the water. It is Daisy's dock. Gatsby does not say her name yet.
the valley of ashes
Nick · Chapter 2 · class · death
The dump between West Egg and the city. The people who serve the rich live in the dust.
the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg
Nick · Chapter 2 · honesty · death
A faded billboard. A dead oculist. Wilson later talks to it like God.
I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known
Nick says this about himself. Watch whether it stays true.
He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: "I never loved you."
Nick · Chapter 6 · love · the past
Gatsby does not want Daisy now. He wants the last four years erased.
Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself
Nick · Chapter 6 · the American dream · the past
James Gatz invented Jay Gatsby. He invented a man and then tried to become him.
Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!
Gatsby · Chapter 6 · the past · the American dream
Nick says you cannot. Gatsby thinks you can. The book is about that fight.
Her voice is full of money
Gatsby · Chapter 7 · money · love · class
Nick could not name what was in Daisy's voice. Gatsby could. Money.
I did love him once—but I loved you too
Daisy · Chapter 7 · love · honesty
Gatsby needs her to say she never loved Tom. She cannot say it cleanly.
The "death car" as the newspapers called it, didn't stop
Nick · Chapter 7 · death · class
Daisy is driving. Myrtle runs into the road. The car does not stop.
They're a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.
Nick · Chapter 8 · honesty · class
The only compliment Nick ever gives Gatsby. He says it across the lawn. Gatsby dies anyway.
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money
Nick · Chapter 9 · class · money · death
They break Myrtle. They break Gatsby. They leave. Money is the door they close behind them.
He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it
Nick · Chapter 9 · the American dream · the past
The lawn is Daisy's. The dream is already behind him. He does not know.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us
Nick · Chapter 9 · the American dream · the past
The light was a dock lamp. Gatsby made it a future. The future keeps moving away.
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past
Nick · Chapter 9 · the past · the American dream
The last line. We row forward. The water takes us back.
You can't repeat the past.
Nick says the ordinary thing. Gatsby does not believe ordinary things.
You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock
Gatsby · Chapter 5 · love · the American dream
He tells Daisy he has been watching her light. She puts her arm through his. He is still looking at the light.
Every quote, in order
All 27, as they happen.
Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.
Nick's father · Chapter 1 · class · honesty
Nick's father tells him not to judge. Nick repeats it. He still judges.
an extraordinary gift for hope
Nick · Chapter 1 · the American dream · love
This is what Nick cannot drop about Gatsby. Hope, not the parties.
there was something gorgeous about him
Nick · Chapter 1 · the American dream
Nick scorns what Gatsby stands for. He still cannot look away.
that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool
Daisy · Chapter 1 · class · love
Daisy hopes her daughter is a fool. She thinks that is the safest thing a girl can be.
a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock
Nick · Chapter 1 · the American dream · the past · love
Nick sees Gatsby reaching for a light across the water. It is Daisy's dock. Gatsby does not say her name yet.
the valley of ashes
Nick · Chapter 2 · class · death
The dump between West Egg and the city. The people who serve the rich live in the dust.
the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg
Nick · Chapter 2 · honesty · death
A faded billboard. A dead oculist. Wilson later talks to it like God.
I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known
Nick says this about himself. Watch whether it stays true.
I hate careless people. That's why I like you.
Jordan · Chapter 3 · honesty · class
Jordan likes Nick because she thinks he is careful. She is not.
Want to go with me, old sport?
Gatsby's favourite tag. It is how he tries to sound like he always had money.
He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: "I never loved you."
Nick · Chapter 6 · love · the past
Gatsby does not want Daisy now. He wants the last four years erased.
Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself
Nick · Chapter 6 · the American dream · the past
James Gatz invented Jay Gatsby. He invented a man and then tried to become him.
Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!
Gatsby · Chapter 6 · the past · the American dream
Nick says you cannot. Gatsby thinks you can. The book is about that fight.
Her voice is full of money
Gatsby · Chapter 7 · money · love · class
Nick could not name what was in Daisy's voice. Gatsby could. Money.
I did love him once—but I loved you too
Daisy · Chapter 7 · love · honesty
Gatsby needs her to say she never loved Tom. She cannot say it cleanly.
The "death car" as the newspapers called it, didn't stop
Nick · Chapter 7 · death · class
Daisy is driving. Myrtle runs into the road. The car does not stop.
They're a rotten crowd. You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.
Nick · Chapter 8 · honesty · class
The only compliment Nick ever gives Gatsby. He says it across the lawn. Gatsby dies anyway.
They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money
Nick · Chapter 9 · class · money · death
They break Myrtle. They break Gatsby. They leave. Money is the door they close behind them.
Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead
Wolfsheim · Chapter 9 · honesty · death
Gatsby's gangster friend will not come to the funeral. He says this like wisdom.
He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it
Nick · Chapter 9 · the American dream · the past
The lawn is Daisy's. The dream is already behind him. He does not know.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us
Nick · Chapter 9 · the American dream · the past
The light was a dock lamp. Gatsby made it a future. The future keeps moving away.
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past
Nick · Chapter 9 · the past · the American dream
The last line. We row forward. The water takes us back.
the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water
Nick · Chapter 1 · class · East and West · money
East Egg is old money. West Egg is new. Nick lives in West Egg, next to Gatsby. Daisy lives across the bay.
You can't repeat the past.
Nick says the ordinary thing. Gatsby does not believe ordinary things.
I never loved you
Gatsby (what he wants Daisy to say) · Chapter 7 · love · the past
Four years, wiped with one sentence. Daisy will not give him that sentence.
You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock
Gatsby · Chapter 5 · love · the American dream
He tells Daisy he has been watching her light. She puts her arm through his. He is still looking at the light.
He just used to stand there like a statue and say, "Don't let that deal go through."
Gatsby, about Wolfsheim · Chapter 4 · class · honesty
Gatsby says Wolfsheim fixed the 1919 World Series. This is the company Gatsby keeps.
Now play today's Long Story ShortOne real news sentence. Keep five of its words. Two minutes. Free. No login.Play now