How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
'Oh I don't say but what there are plenty of pretty places and remarkable old things; but the trouble is that I don't seem to feel anywhere in tune.' (1.2.10)
Strether isn't the only dude in this book who feels dissatisfied. His buddy Waymarsh, for example, also feels deeply down—but for him, it's by his European "vacation." Sure, he can admit that there's some cool stuff to see and do in Europe; but the man never manages to feel like he's at home or "in tune" with his surroundings. It's like Europe moves to a different rhythm than him, and he misses being back in The States where things feel normal to him.
Quote #2
It was by the oddest, the least admirable of laws demoralizing him now; and the way it boldly took was to make him want more wants. (1.3.15)
Usually, the feeling of dissatisfaction leads a person to want something. But for Strether, the issue goes even deeper. For him, dissatisfaction makes him wish that there were more things he wanted. After all, Strether has lived much of his life serving others (like Mrs. Newsome). But now that he's in Europe alone, he realizes that he needs to get in touch with his own desires.
Quote #3
'It's exactly the thing that I'm reduced to doing for myself. It seems to rescue a little, you see, from the wreck of hopes and ambitions, the refuse-heap of disappointments and failures, my presentable little scrap of identity.' (2.1.31)
This is pretty pathetic, yo. Strether tells Maria that he enjoys working on the Woollett Revue magazine because it gives him consolation for all of the ambitions and dreams that have never come true in his life. This is all really depressing, but at least it does the trick of setting up a nice motive for Strether's actions later in the book. As we will see, dissatisfaction can be a very powerful force.
Quote #4
It became at once vivid to him that he had originally had, for a few days, an almost envious vision of the boy's romantic privilege. (2.2.9)
It's not easy for him to admit early in the book, but Strether realizes that he's completely envious of Chad's life in Paris. After all, Strether spends his life sitting at a desk and editing a magazine that his fiancée basically created just to give him something to do. That's not the best way to feel satisfied in life.
Quote #5
Chad had at any rate pulled his visitor up; he had even pulled up his admirable mother; he had absolutely, by a turn of the wrist and a jerk of the far-flung noose, pulled up, in a bunch, Woollett browsing in its pride. (4.1.41)
Strether's dissatisfaction with his life only deepens when he realizes that Chad's flashy new personality not only makes his own life seem pointless—it also makes all of Woollett seem boring, even Strether's moral hero, Mrs. Newsome. So all the stuff he did feel satisfied with starts making ye olde switcheroo.
Quote #6
His changed state, his lovely home, his beautiful things, his easy talk, his very appetite for Strether, insatiable and, when all was said, flattering—what were such marked matters all but the notes of his freedom? (4.2.3)
There's almost nothing in Chad's life that doesn't make Strether dissatisfied. The way he talks, all the cool stuff he owns, his zest for life. In short, Chad's living the good life, and Strether has been too blind to realize what that really means until it's too late for him. Strether's old now, with no hope of ever making the money or being young enough to live like Chad.
Quote #7
Chad, accordingly, who was wonderful with both of them, was a kind of link for hopeless fancy, an implication of possibilities—oh if everything had been different! (5.1.5)
As soon as he meets Chad in Paris, Strether feels totally inadequate. Seeing Chad's cool young life reminds Strether of the life he never had. And why did Strether never have this life? Well, for starters he hasn't inherited all the money Chad has. But on top of that, Strether has always been anxious and cautious, and he never would have been adventurous enough to live alone in Paris when he was young. Le sigh.
Quote #8
'All the same don't forget that you're young—blessedly young; be glad of it on the contrary and live up to it. Live all you can; it's a mistake not to.' (5.2.14)
When Strether gets a chance to sit down next to Bilham at a party, he can't help but tell Bilham to enjoy his youth while he still has it. By this point, Strether is basically bubbling over with jealousy for all of the young, charming people he's met (including Chad). When he tells Bilham to enjoy his youth, it's pretty much Strether wishing he could go back and say this to a younger version of himself.
Quote #9
'I see it now. I haven't done so enough before—and now I'm old; too old at any rate for what I see.' (5.2.14)
Strether admits that now that he's old, he can see how much he would do things differently if he were young again. His dissatisfaction keeps coming from his sense that life is something he'll never be able to get back, and it's hard to think that way without feeling a ton of regret. Read these lines well, young Shmoopers!
Quote #10
'[Y]ou're, as I say, damn you, so happily and hatefully young. Don't at any rate miss things out of stupidity.' (5.2.14)
When Strether refers to Bilham as "hatefully" young, you can just feel the jealousy dripping from every one of his words. Meanwhile, Bilham is all like, "Hey man, my life isn't all that great. I'm poor and I'm totally shy around girls." But Strether wants to order Bilham to enjoy life—not for his own sake, but for Strether's.