The author of The Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise, Tender is the Night, and such exquisite short stories as “The Diamond Big as the Ritz” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald burned his way through the literary world of the early 20th century.
He was an Ivy League elite of the old guard, full of idealistic visions of duty and artistic taste. His intoxicating success and his chaotic romance with his wife Zelda aggravated his alcoholism, and his writing frayed in his later years. He died young, at the age of 44.
Below are some of the disillusioned, brilliant, beleaguered, and enamored writer’s best lines, drawn from his world-class canon and his private letters.
These lines appeared in Fitzgerald’s “Author’s Apology” at the beginning of This Side of Paradise. The photo shows a 16-year old Francis Scott. Princeton University
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The quote comes from the author’s notebooks. The image shows a manuscript page of This Side of Paradise. Princeton University
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Lines from This Side of Paradise. Wikimedia Commons
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The quote is from Tender is the Night. The photo shows Fitzgerald’s passport.Princeton University
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From This Side of Paradise. Wikimedia Commons
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The quote is from “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.” The photo shows Fitzgerald’s football team in St. Paul, Minnesota.Princeton University
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From “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.”Princeton University
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From This Side of Paradise.Princeton University
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The quote is from “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz.” Wikimedia Commons
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This quote comes from The Beautiful and Damned, Fitzgerald’s second novel.Princeton University
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Fitzgerald wrote these words in a private letter to his daughter, Frances. The photo shows the author as a Princeton freshman. Princeton University
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Quote from a private letter to a friend. Princeton University
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The quote comes from the author’s notebooks. Library Of Congress
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The quote is from The Crack-Up. The photo shows Fitzgerald’s house in St. Paul, Minnesota. Library Of Congress
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Quote from the shot story titled “The Offshore Pirate.” Wikimedia Commons
John has been writing for All That's Interesting since 2014 and now lives in Madrid, Spain, where he writes and consults on international development projects in East Africa.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of expertise include modern American history and the ancient Near East. In an editing career spanning 17 years, he previously served as managing editor of Elmore Magazine in New York City for seven years.
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Schellhase, John. "22 Stunning F. Scott Fitzgerald Quotes On Writing, Love, And Disillusion." AllThatsInteresting.com, October 3, 2015, https://allthatsinteresting.com/f-scott-fitzgerald-quotes. Accessed August 6, 2025.
