Top 99 "The Great Gatsby Chapter 8" Quotes

Chapter 8 of “The Great Gatsby” is packed with powerful quotes that reveal the characters’ motivations, dreams, and fears. Here are the top 99 quotes from this chapter:

On Gatsby’s Past and Identity

1. “I am the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West — all dead now.” – Gatsby
2. “I found out what your ‘drug-stores’ were.” – Gatsby
3. “I thought you might be here.” – Gatsby
4. “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before.” – Gatsby
5. “I suppose Daisy’ll call too.” – Gatsby
6. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.” – Gatsby
7. “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” – Gatsby
8. “You can’t repeat the past.” – Nick
9. “You’re acting like a little boy.” – Daisy
10. “I wouldn’t ask too much of her,” I ventured. “You can’t repeat the past.” – Nick
11. “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” – Gatsby
12. “He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way.” – Nick
13. “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself.” – Nick
14. “I suppose she had begun to realize the implications of the situation.” – Gatsby
15. “I think he half expected me to wander into one of his parties, some night.” – Nick
16. “I’m glad, Jay.” – Daisy
17. “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.” – Daisy
18. “I wouldn’t ask too much of her,” I ventured. “You can’t repeat the past.” – Nick
19. “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before.” – Gatsby
20. “His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own.” – Nick
21. “Her voice is full of money,” he said suddenly. – Gatsby
22. “I think he knew that I knew that he was lying.” – Nick
23. “I’m going to make a big request of you today.” – Gatsby
24. “But I love you too much.” – Gatsby
25. “He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths.” – Nick
26. “He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy.” – Nick
27. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.” – Gatsby
28. “I don’t think she ever loved him.” – Jordan
29. “You see, I think everything’s terrible anyhow.” – Jordan
30. “I’m not a very good host.” – Gatsby
31. “Perhaps Daisy never went in for amour at all.” – Jordan
32. “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once.” – Nick
33. “I don’t think he had ever really believed in its existence before.” – Nick
34. “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” – Gatsby
35. “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” – Nick
36. “I’m sorry about the clock,” he said. “It’s an old clock,” I told him idiotically.” – Gatsby
37. “I waited, and sure enough, in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.” – Nick
38. “I’m going to take better care of you from now on.” – Gatsby
39. “I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others — poor young clerks who loitered in front of windows waiting until it was time for a solitary restaurant dinner — young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.” – Nick
40. “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” – Nick
41. “He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God.” – Nick
42. “I wouldn’t ask too much of her,” I ventured. “You can’t repeat the past.” – Nick
43. “She vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby — nothing.” – Nick
44. “It was all very careless and confused.” – Jordan
45. “I’m going to make a big request of you today.” – Gatsby
46. “You see, I think everything’s terrible anyhow.” – Jordan
47. “I’m not a very good host.” – Gatsby
48. “I want to get the grass cut,” he said. “I want to get a little place out in the country, and I want to marry you.” – Tom
49. “I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.” – Nick
50. “All right, old sport,” called Gatsby. “We won’t quarrel about that. You’re just an amusing little boy. But you’re certainly funny!” – Gatsby
51. “He looked at me sideways — and I knew why Jordan Baker had believed he was lying.” – Nick
52. “I waited, and sure enough, in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.” – Nick
53. “I’m going to take better care of you from now on.” – Gatsby
54. “He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths.” – Nick
55. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.” – Tom
56. “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” – Nick
57. “I suppose Daisy’ll call too.” – Gatsby
58. “I don’t want to put you to any trouble.” – Gatsby
59. “She vanished into her rich house, into her rich, full life, leaving Gatsby — nothing.” – Nick
60. “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” – Nick
61. “He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy.” – Nick
62. “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.” – Daisy
63. “I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others — poor young clerks who loitered in front of windows waiting until it was time for a solitary restaurant dinner — young clerks in the dusk, wasting the most poignant moments of night and life.” – Nick
64. “I waited, and sure enough, in a moment she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.” – Nick
65. “I’m going to take better care of you from now on.” – Gatsby
66. “I’m going to make a big request of you today.” – Gatsby
67. “I’m sorry about the clock,” he said. “It’s an old clock,” I told him idiotically.” – Gatsby
68. “All right, old sport,” called Gatsby. “We won’t quarrel about that. You’re just an amusing little boy. But you’re certainly funny!” – Gatsby
69. “I don’t think she ever loved him.” – Jordan
70. “I’m not