“The farmers may be the backbone of the country, but who wants to be a backbone?”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tales of the Jazz Age, 1922, "Mr. Icky"

About F. Scott Fitzgerald

1896 – 1940

American novelist, author of "The Great Gatsby".

“The compensation of a very early success is a conviction that life is a romantic matter. In the best sense one stays young.”

“There are no second acts in American lives.”

“The idea that to make a man work you've got to hold gold in front of his eyes is a growth, not an axiom.”

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”