About this quote

The line captures the moment when anger and affection collide and leave you acting brusque before regret settles in. That push-and-pull often looks like walking away to prove a point and then wishing you hadn't. Try naming the feeling out loud for ten seconds next time, or pause at the door and ask yourself why you are leaving. If you decide you were wrong, offer a short apology and one practical step to make it right.

When to use it

• After we had a loud argument in the kitchen and I slammed the door, I kept thinking of Fitzgerald's line while I sat in my car.
• In a staff meeting I cut off a colleague I admired and stormed out; later I remembered that sentence and went back to apologize.
• I yelled at my daughter about missing curfew, drove away furious, then that line came to mind and I returned to talk it through.
• After berating a teammate on the sideline and cooling off on the bench, I thought of that Fitzgerald line and went over to admit I overreacted.