Who said “Either you think -- or else others have to think for you and take power from you,…”?

Verified

F. Scott Fitzgerald. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceTender is the Night (1934)

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Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: Tender is the Night (1934).

APA

Fitzgerald, F. S. (n.d.). Either you think -- or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/39722-either-you-think-or-else-others-have-to/

MLA

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “Either you think -- or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/39722-either-you-think-or-else-others-have-to/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “Either you think -- or else others have to think for you and take power from you, pervert and discipline your natural tastes, civilize and sterilize you.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/39722-either-you-think-or-else-others-have-to/.

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“No such thing as a man willing to be honest --that would be like a blind man willing to see.”
Honesty
“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.”
Riches
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