Passion can overcome all obstacles. To be passionate about something is to care a great amount about it. It is a guide in life that one will follow no matter the opposition. Passion will dictate a person’s life and influence a large portion their decisions. Everyone has passion for something. What that passion is, is definitive of that person. Laura said, “To have a passion for truth suggests more then just caring about it. It suggests that we are strongly affected by disregard of evidence, inaccuracy and deceit. We are subject to strong feelings if truth is disregarded in any way. This links the use of ‘passion’ with the Latin patior from which it is derived. It suggests being subject to something, being mastered or overpowered (Lawrie)…”
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Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Gatsby chases a dream for the journey alone. The journey is always better than the destination. The experiences and emotions obtained and had are irreplaceable. To learn to cherish the journey more than the end goal is to be truly happy. It is the choice to enjoy the majority of life opposed to just certain points. Gatsby seems to understand this idea whilst chasing Daisy. Barbara Will says of it, “For Nick, Gatsby’s lies, his pretensions, and his corruption are ‘no matter’; nor is his failure to win back Daisy; what matters is the sustaining belief in the value of striving for a ‘wondrous object,’ not its inevitable disappearance and meaninglessness (Will).” Nick admires Gatsby’s ability to live life with only his “wondrous object” keeping him going. The chance that he will eventually catch it makes up for any negative facets his lifestyle has (a life style that was made to win over Daisy). Gatsby doesn’t need to ever get back with Daisy. He just needs to know that he has a shot, and for him this is even better than actually having her. This is because in his mind, she is built up as something far better than what she really is. Daisy can never live up to Gatsby’s expectations so he has to settle for what he thinks she is. He is in love with an idea, not a person. Gatsby is in love with the green light that represents Daisy. However, he uses this idea, his passion, to overcome obstacles such as the class system and Tom. The …show more content…
Distractions are the things that keep people from doing what they should be doing. They come in many different forms, especially in the modern age. Technology is to blame for much of it. Constant strings of entertainment, and available upgrades beg for attention. Because of this, several authors have touted simple lives through Transcendentalism. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Men who would be rich; this is the ridicule of the class, that they arrive with pains and sweat and fury nowhere; when all is done, it is for nothing. They are like one who has interrupted the conversation of a company to make his speech, and now has forgotten what he went to say (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, 193).” To chase wealth is pointless. Money, and material objects are hard earned, but in the end they don’t provide happiness. One should not rely on materialism for happiness. It only distracts from deeper, longer lasting emotions, and satisfaction found in a simple life and nature. The happiness found in the trees and animals is far greater. Nature is a much healthier passion. To not lead a “normal” life, however, is difficult. There is a large amount of pressure to just follow the beaten path, to conform. Being able to ignore this pressure is critical to practicing Transcendentalism. The opposite is also true. One cannot apply this pressure on other people or things. Thoreau said, “An afternoon sufficed to lay out the land into orchard, woodlot,
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Gatsby chases a dream for the journey alone. The journey is always better than the destination. The experiences and emotions obtained and had are irreplaceable. To learn to cherish the journey more than the end goal is to be truly happy. It is the choice to enjoy the majority of life opposed to just certain points. Gatsby seems to understand this idea whilst chasing Daisy. Barbara Will says of it, “For Nick, Gatsby’s lies, his pretensions, and his corruption are ‘no matter’; nor is his failure to win back Daisy; what matters is the sustaining belief in the value of striving for a ‘wondrous object,’ not its inevitable disappearance and meaninglessness (Will).” Nick admires Gatsby’s ability to live life with only his “wondrous object” keeping him going. The chance that he will eventually catch it makes up for any negative facets his lifestyle has (a life style that was made to win over Daisy). Gatsby doesn’t need to ever get back with Daisy. He just needs to know that he has a shot, and for him this is even better than actually having her. This is because in his mind, she is built up as something far better than what she really is. Daisy can never live up to Gatsby’s expectations so he has to settle for what he thinks she is. He is in love with an idea, not a person. Gatsby is in love with the green light that represents Daisy. However, he uses this idea, his passion, to overcome obstacles such as the class system and Tom. The …show more content…
Distractions are the things that keep people from doing what they should be doing. They come in many different forms, especially in the modern age. Technology is to blame for much of it. Constant strings of entertainment, and available upgrades beg for attention. Because of this, several authors have touted simple lives through Transcendentalism. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Men who would be rich; this is the ridicule of the class, that they arrive with pains and sweat and fury nowhere; when all is done, it is for nothing. They are like one who has interrupted the conversation of a company to make his speech, and now has forgotten what he went to say (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, 193).” To chase wealth is pointless. Money, and material objects are hard earned, but in the end they don’t provide happiness. One should not rely on materialism for happiness. It only distracts from deeper, longer lasting emotions, and satisfaction found in a simple life and nature. The happiness found in the trees and animals is far greater. Nature is a much healthier passion. To not lead a “normal” life, however, is difficult. There is a large amount of pressure to just follow the beaten path, to conform. Being able to ignore this pressure is critical to practicing Transcendentalism. The opposite is also true. One cannot apply this pressure on other people or things. Thoreau said, “An afternoon sufficed to lay out the land into orchard, woodlot,