"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further... And one fine morning--
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
— F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby)

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."
— Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita)

"You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style."
— Vladimir Nabokov (Lolita)

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."
— F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby)

"Whenever I talk to anyone I care about, I am always seeking approval. There is always a pleading lilt in my voice that demands love. Even the people I work with, the ones I am supposed to have a professional relationship with, all business, get pulled into my need. I can't help it. I want to be adored."
— Elizabeth Wurtzel