Context

Meyer Wolfsheim, the ultimate creep of The Great Gatsby, drops this line to our narrator Nick Carraway when Nick shows up to talk about Gatsby after Gatsby has died.

Wolfsheim tells Nick about how he met Gatsby—who was broke after the army—and how he made Gatsby into the success that he was. Nick asks Wolfsheim to come to Gatsby's funeral, and that's when Wolfsheim says these words.

It's a great quote to teach people the importance of valuing your friends friends while they're alive instead of waiting to praise them when they have passed.

Except that…it's not really.

Taken in isolation (as it often is), all is well, but look at the context. Meyer Wolfsheim, who was very close to Gatsby, uses this as an excuse not to attend Gatsby's funeral. He says that, now that he's old, he can't "get mixed up in all that"—by which he means he doesn't want to be affiliated with Gatsby's death because Gatsby's illegal dealings could unveil his own. In the end, it's just a frilly, meaningless saying that clever ol' Wolfsheim uses to dismiss any post-mortem duty he has to his "friend."

Where you've heard it

Hopefully you've never been in the position to have to hear this line.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Depends if you really mean it or if you're just Wolfsheiming it.