The Great Gatsby Quotes
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Source: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Flushed with his impassioned gibberish, he saw himself standing alone on the last barrier of civilization."
"Self-control!" repeated Tom incredulously. "I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that's the idea you can count me out […] Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they'll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white."
Flushed with his impassioned gibberish, he saw himself standing alone on the last barrier of civilization.
Context
Hoo boy. Tom, adulterer (and apparently, racist) extraordinaire, apparently has a few things to say about how people should act.
We love Nick's description of him, though: "Flushed with his impassioned gibberish, he saw himself standing alone on the last barrier of civilization." As pretentious as Nick is, he has a way of knocking the jerks of the world down a peg.
Where you've heard it
One of our favorite moments in the history of cinema comes from You've Got Mail, when Greg Kinnear's character tells Meg Ryan's character, "You are a lone reed!" That's kind of how Tom Buchanan thinks of himself...except he's not.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
This one speaks for itself.