What do these literature quotes mean?

Question

These are epigrams (short, meaningful expressions) that Fitzgerald uses in "This Side of Paradise."

I really need help explaining what they mean. Please help me?

* "Very few things matter and nothing matters very much."

* “Life was a damned muddle…a football game with every one offside and the referee gotten rid of – every one claiming the referee would have been on his side”

* Progress was a labyrinth…people plunging blindly in and then rushing wildly back, shouting that they had found it”

Answer 1

"Very few things matter and nothing matters very much."

Just as it says. Very few things in a persons life matters. Friends, families, possibly money and pets or other possessions. Yet, on the same token, it doesn't matter much. I doubt you would be willing to truly die to save your wealth, or your stuffed animal that means the most to you. We all make friends, and lose friends, and family, and over time we move on.

“Life was a damned muddle…a football game with every one offside and the referee gotten rid of – every one claiming the referee would have been on his side”

The whole bit after 'muddle' is an analogy. Basically saying their like is crazy.

"Progress was a labyrinth…people plunging blindly in and then rushing wildly back, shouting that they had found it”

Labyrinth is a maze. This is another analogy. People take a step into a puzzle and quickly come to conclusion.

Answer 2

they mean exactly what they say ..