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John Steinbeck
204 quotes
“We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say — and to feel — "Yes, that’s the way it is, or at least that’s the way I feel it. You’re not as alone as you thought.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Awe of Words," The Exonian, 75th anniversary edition, Exeter University (1930)
“The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Awe of Words," The Exonian, 75th anniversary edition, Exeter University (1930)
“Out of a thousand centuries they drew the ancient admiration of the footman for the horseman. They knew instinctively that a man on a horse is spiritually as well as physically bigger than a man on foot.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1933 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Red Pony (1933–1937), Ch. 1: The Gift
“In every bit of honest writing in the world ... there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (1938), quoted in the Introduction to a 1994 edition of Of Mice and Men by Susan Shillinglaw, p. vii
“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 (1902–1968) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Elizabeth Otis, once he had begun The Grapes of Wrath (1 June 1938)
“For the first time I am working on a book that is not limited and that will take every bit of experience and thought and feeling that I have.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (11 June 1938), published in Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath, 1938-1941 (1990) edited by Robert DeMott
“Boileau said that Kings, Gods and Heroes only were fit subjects for literature. The writer can only write about what he admires. Present-day kings aren't very inspiring, the gods are on a vacation and about the only heroes left are the scientists and the poor … And since our race admires gallantry, the writer will deal with it where he finds it. He finds it in the struggling poor now.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio interview (1939) quoted in Introduction by Robert DeMott to a 1992 edition of The Grapes of Wrath
“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Robert van Gelder (April 1947), as quoted in John Steinbeck: A Biography (1994) by Jay Parini
“All hell has broken loose. I admit our Russian is limited, but we can say hello, come in, you are beautiful, oh no you don't. … So in our pride we ordered for breakfast an omelet, toast and coffee and what has just arrived is a tomato salad with onions, a dish of pickles, a big slice of watermelon and two bottles of cream soda. Something has slipped badly.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On difficulties while traveling in the USSR (20 August 1947), in Steinbeck: A Life in Letters (1976)
“No little appetite or pain, no carelessness or meanness in him escaped her; no thought or dream or longing in him ever reached her. And yet several times in her life she had seen the stars.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Moon Is Down (1942), p. 7
“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1955 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: …like captured fireflies" (1955); also published in America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (2003), p. 142
“One man was so mad at me that he ended his letter: “Beware. You will never get out of this world alive.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Mail I’ve Seen” Saturday Review (3 August 1956)
“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 (1902–1968) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Adlai Stevenson (5 November 1959), quoted in The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography (1984), by Jackson J. Benson, p. 876
“Yesterday in that dog lifted his leg on a tree that was 20 feet across, 80 feet high and a 1,000 years old — what's left in life for that poor dog?”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Circa 1961, dining at Enrico's in San Francisco with a group including and (presumably a brief stopover made during the westernmost portion of the road trip described in ), prompting Gossage's tentative reply, "W-w-well…
“Writers are a little below clowns and a little above trained seals.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote magazine (18 June 1961)
“The profession of book-writing makes horse-racing seem like a solid, stable business.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1962 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Newsweek (24 December 1962)
“Syntax, my lad. It has been restored to the highest place in the republic.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Atlantic magazine (November 1969)
“Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the bastard.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted by John Kenneth Galbraith in the Introduction to The Affluent Society (1977 edition)
“Woody is just Woody. Thousands of people do not know he has any other name. He is just a voice and a guitar. He sings the songs of a people and I suspect that he is, in a way, that people. Harsh voiced and nasal, his guitar hanging like a tire iron on a rusty rim, there is nothing sweet about Woody, and there is nothing sweet about the songs he sings. But there is something more important for those who will listen. There is the will of the people to endure and fight against oppression. I think we call this the American spirit.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Woody Guthrie: A Life (1981) by Joe Klein, p. 160
“This is the story of Danny and of Danny’s friends and of Danny’s house.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thou knowest not what bitches women are,” Danny said wisely. “I do know,” said Pilon. “Thou knowest not.” “I do know.” “Liar.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ah, the prayers of the millions, how they must fight and destroy each other on their way to the throne of God.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If two generous paths branch from the highroad of life and only one can be followed, who is to judge which is best?”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is a fact verified and recorded in many histories that the soul capable of the greatest good is also capable of the greatest evil. Who is there more impious than a backsliding priest? Who more carnal than a recent virgin? This, however, may be a matter of appearance.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is a time of quiet joy, the sunny morning. When the glittery dew is on the mallow weeds, each leaf holds a jewel which is beautiful if not valuable. This is no time for hurry or for bustle. Thoughts are slow and deep and golden in the morning.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The story was gradually taking shape. Pilon liked it this way. It ruined a story to have it all come out quickly. The good story lay in half-told things which must be filled in out of the hearer’s own experience.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The candle aimed its spear of light at heaven, like an artist who consumes himself to become divine.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is astounding to find that the belly of every black and evil thing is as white as snow. And it is saddening to discover how the concealed parts of angels are leprous.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ghosts could walk freely tonight, without fear of the disbelief of men; for this night was haunted, and it would be an insensitive man who did not know it.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is worth while to be kind and generous,” he said. “Not only do such actions pile up a house of joy in Heaven; but there is, too, a quick reward here on earth. One feels a golden warmth glowing like a hot enchilada in one’s stomach.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What pillow can one have like a good conscience?”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was a glorious game. Theft robbed of the stigma of theft, crime altruistically committed—what is more gratifying?”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beans are a roof over your stomach. Beans are a warm cloak against economic cold.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Time is more complex near the sea than in any other place, for in addition to the circling of the sun and the turning of the seasons, the waves beat out the passage of time on the rocks and the tides rise and fall as a great clepsydra.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He was very rich, he bought eggs to throw at a Chinaman. And one of those eggs missed the Chinaman and hit a policeman. So, Danny was in jail.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, God knows he don't need any brains to buck barley bags. But don't you try to put nothing over, Milton. I got my eye on you.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What the hell kind of bed you giving us, anyways. We don’t want no pants rabbits.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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 (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ain't many guys travel around together. I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A powerful, big-stomached man came into the bunkhouse.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His ear heard more than is said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus' works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We could live offa the fatta the lan’.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody — to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They come, an' they quit an' go on; an' every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever'body wants a little piece of lan'. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I seen too many guys with land in their head. They never get none under their hand.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You watch your place, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy, it ain't even funny.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You ain't worth a greased lack pin to ram you into hell.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“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 (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source