What does the quote "besides the good things that he possesses, he every instant fancies a thousand others that death will prevent him from trying if he does not try them soon" (de Tocqueville) in the great gatsby mean

Explanation:

We can infer the meaning of this quote by considering the context of the statement. For example, a few lines before this quote, we are told by Alexis de Tocqueville,

"He who has set his heart exclusively on the pursuit of worldly welfare is always in a hurry, for he has but a limited time at his disposal to reach, to grasp, and to enjoy it."

Hence, what the quote means is that man (i.e Gatsby), has an insatiable desire to enjoy what life can offer with the fear of dying in mind; despite the good things he already has.

very interesting story but where is the question what is actually a question i don't understand

it was surely an odd creature that one made up by reading the historians first and the poets afterwards a worm winged like an eagle; the spirit of life and elegance and charm,   in a kitchen chopping up suet. but these creatures, monst'r however entertaining to the imagination, hast no existence in fact. what one might doth to bringeth h'r to life wast to bethink poetically and prosaically at one and the same moment,   thus keeping in toucheth with fact—that the lady is mrs martin, ag'd thirty-six, did dress in blue, wearing a black coxcomb and brown shoeth; but not losing sight of fiction eith'r—that the lady is a vessel in which all s'rts of spirits and f'rces art coursing and flashing p'rpetually. the moment, howev'r, yond one tries this method with the elizabethan mistress, one brancheth of illumination fails; one is did hold up by the scarcity of facts.   one knoweth nothing detailed, nothing p'rfectly true and substantial about h'r.   hist'ry scarcely mentions h'r.   and i did turn to professeth'r trevelyan again to seeth what hist'ry meanteth to that gent.   i hath found by looking at his chapt'r headings yond t meanteth.