-
'It is so easy a thing to give-only great men have the courage and courtesy and, yes, the generosity to receive.'
John Steinbeck -
I have never smuggled anything in my life. Why, then, do I feel an uneasy sense of guilt on approaching a customs barrier?
John Steinbeck
-
'What freedom men and women could have, were they not constantly tricked and trapped and enslaved and tortured by their sexuality! The only drawback in that freedom is that without it one would not be a human. One would be a monster.'
John Steinbeck -
We could live offa the fatta the lan’.
John Steinbeck -
'Ellen, only last night, asked, 'Daddy, when will we be rich?' But I did not say to her what I know: 'We will be rich soon, and you who handle poverty badly will handle riches equally badly.' And that is true. In poverty she is envious. In riches she may be a snob. Money does not change the sickness, only the symptoms.'
John Steinbeck -
'It has always seemed strange to me,' said Doc. 'The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success.'
John Steinbeck -
If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy and sick.
John Steinbeck -
I have never even wondered about the comparative standing of writers. I don't understand that. Writing to me is a deeply personal, even a secret function and when the product is turned loose it is cut off from me and I have no sense of its being mine. Consequently criticism doesn't mean anything to me. As a disciplinary matter, it is too late.
John Steinbeck
-
… we've got so many laws you can't breathe without breaking something.
John Steinbeck -
If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're the only ones that'll help - the only ones.
John Steinbeck -
I wonder why progress looks so much like destruction.
John Steinbeck -
Maybe not having time to think is not having the wish to think.
John Steinbeck -
A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.
John Steinbeck -
Time is the only critic without ambition.
John Steinbeck
-
It is a nice thing to be working and believing in my work again. I hope I can keep the drive. I only feel whole and well when it is this way.
John Steinbeck -
They successfully combined piracy and puritanism, which aren't so unlike when you come right down to it. Both had a strong dislike for opposition and both had a roving eye for other people's property.
John Steinbeck -
For a while I was a vicious fighter but it wasn't to win. It was to get it over and get the hell out of there. And I never would have done it at all if other people hadn't put me in the ring. The only private fights I ever had were those I couldn't get away from.
John Steinbeck -
A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.
John Steinbeck -
No one wants advice - only corroboration.
John Steinbeck -
Does anyone ever know even the outer fringe of another? What are you like in there? Mary - do you hear? Who are you in there?
John Steinbeck
-
A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers.
John Steinbeck -
Life could not change the sun or water the desert, so it changed itself.
John Steinbeck -
'Well, that glove's fulla vaseline.''Vaseline? What the hell for?'Well, I tell ya what - Curley says he's keepin' that hand soft for his wife.'
John Steinbeck -
I seen too many guys with land in their head. They never get none under their hand.
John Steinbeck