The Great Gatsby Quotes
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Source: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. "Whenever you feel like criticising any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had."
Context
Nick Carraway, narrator extraordinaire, opens his narration of Gatsby’s story with these lines.
At this point, we don't know anything about Nick—or about what he's about to tell us—so all we can take away from this line is that the guy likes to dole out life lessons just like his dad.
Nick is trying to set himself up as a reliable narrator (which, uh, he's not), and he ultimately provides us with the reason he was able to befriend and evaluate Gatsby the way that he did. That, or he's just providing excuses for his naïve trust.
Who knows? He is our only narrator.
Where you've heard it
"When I was a kid..."
How many times have you heard that one?
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.
The whole point of this quote is not to be pretentious. Not that Nick has much follow through.