A study of animal communities has this advantage: they are merely what they are, for anyone to see who will and can look clearly; they cannot complicate the picture by worded idealisms, by saying one thing and being another; here the struggle is unmasked and the beauty is unmasked.

John Steinbeck

More Quotes by John Steinbeck
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More Quotes From John Steinbeck

It has always seemed strange to me... 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. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.

John Steinbeck
wisdom appreciation love

Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

John Steinbeck
usa roots america

Books are the best friends you can have; they inform you, and entertain you, and they don't talk back.

John Steinbeck
friendship book
When two people meet, each one is changed by the other so you've... by John Steinbeck

When two people meet, each one is changed by the other so you've got two new people.

John Steinbeck
changed two people

There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

John Steinbeck
selfish kindness mean

Don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens - The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

John Steinbeck
heartbroken broken-heart love

Somewhere in the world there is a defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory.

John Steinbeck
victory greatness mean
The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valua... by John Steinbeck

The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.

John Steinbeck
i-hate-you freedom eden

And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about.

John Steinbeck
freedom inspirational believe
Only mediocrity escapes criticism. by John Steinbeck

Only mediocrity escapes criticism.

John Steinbeck
mediocrity criticism life
If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck. by John Steinbeck

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck.

John Steinbeck
finding-yourself fighting military
All great and precious things are lonely. by John Steinbeck

All great and precious things are lonely.

John Steinbeck
being-alone lonely loneliness

I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.

John Steinbeck
strong-women being-strong believe
And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good. by John Steinbeck

And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.

John Steinbeck
i-hate-you encouragement inspiring
You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself. by John Steinbeck

You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.

John Steinbeck
empathy feels people

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. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.

John Steinbeck
education teacher inspirational
To be alive at all is to have scars. by John Steinbeck

To be alive at all is to have scars.

John Steinbeck
scar alive
What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to... by John Steinbeck

What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.

John Steinbeck
summer winter weather
It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expe... by John Steinbeck

It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.

John Steinbeck
motivational positive life
A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to thi... by John Steinbeck

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

John Steinbeck
marriage adventure travel