Quotes from John Steinbeck

A girl was just a girl to you. They wasn't nothin' to you. But to me they was holy vessels. I was savin' their souls. An' here with all that responsibility on me I'd just get 'em frothin' with the Holy Sperit, an' then I'd take 'em out in the grass." "Maybe I should of been a preacher,'' said Joad.

Sto imparando una cosa importante, disse. La sto imparando ogni momento, tutt'i giorni. Quando stai male o magari hai bisogno o sei nei guai... va' dalla povera gente. Soltanto loro ti danno una mano... soltanto loro.

He climbed ecstatic mountains and floundered in the rocky darkness between the peaks.

The boys were stunned by the size and grandeur of the West End after their background in a one-room country school. The opulence of having a teacher for each grade made a deep impression on them. It seemed wasteful. But as is true of all humans, they were stunned for one day, admiring on the second, and on the third day could not remember very clearly ever having gone to any other school.

Seems to me you put too much stock in the affairs of children. It probably didn't mean anything. Yes, it meant something. Mr. Trask, do you think the thoughts of people suddenly become important at a given age? Do you have sharper feelings or clearer thoughts now than when you were ten? Do you see as well, hear as well, taste as vitally?

If a bank or a finance company owned the land, the owner man said, The Bank—or the Company—needs—wants—insists—must have—as though the Bank or the Company were a monster, with thought and feeling, which had ensnared them. These last would take no responsibility for the banks or the companies because they were men and slaves, while the banks were machines and masters all at the same time.

Poetry was a secret vice, and properly so.

Says one time he went out in the wilderness to find his own soul, an' he foun' he didn' have no soul that was his'n. Says he foun' he jus' got a little piece of a great big soul. Says a wilderness ain't no good 'less it was with the rest, an' was whole.

At the very first he knew he was lying, but it was not long before he was equally sure that every one of his stories was true.

I wonder if he had a Cathy and who she was.

I can get to be so little you can't even see me.

Ed ecco cosa puoi sapere per certo: terribile è il tempo in cui l'Uomo non voglia soffrire e morire per un'idea, perché quest'unica qualità è fondamento dell'Uomo, e quest'unica qualità è l'uomo in sé, peculiare nell'universo.

She controlled her face and whipped the fear from it. "You're just doing it because you're honest, is that it? You're just too sugar sweet to live.

I will go so far as to say that the writer who is not scared is happily unaware of the remote and tantalizing majesty of the medium.

Ei mikään vedä vertoja oluen ensimmäiselle puraisulle.

I think I love you. But I'm not good. Because you're not good.

One word set off others like a string of firecrackers.

Little kid comes in late ta school. Teacher says, Why ya late? Kid says, Had a take a heifer down—get 'er bred. Teacher says, Couldn't your ol' man do it? Kid says, Sure he could, but not as good as the bull.

Woman can change better'n a man, Ma said soothingly. Woman got all her life in her arms. Man got it all in his head.

He's eating God the way a bear eats meat against the winter.

We have never understood why men mount the heads of animals and hang them up to look down on their conquerors. Possibly it feels good to these men to be superior to animals, but it does seem that if they were sure of it they would not have to prove it. Often a man who is afraid must constantly demonstrate his courage and, in the case of the hunter, must keep a tangible record of his courage.

Tu quello che puoi fare devi farlo lo stesso. L'importante,' diceva, 'è sapere che ogni volta che c'è un piccolo passo avanti, poi c'è pure una scivolata indietro, ma mai così indietro come prima. E' la differenza,' diceva, 'dimostra che quello che hai fatto era giusto farlo. E non era una perdita di tempo pure se magari sembrava di sì.

Imperturbability could be depended upon. And from her great and humble position in the family she had taken dignity and a clean calm beauty. From her position as healer, her hands had grown sure and cool and quiet; from her position as arbiter she had become as remote and faultless in judgment as a goddess. She seemed to know that if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever really deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall, the family will to function would be gone.

when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need.