In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. John Steinbeck More Quotes by John Steinbeck More Quotes From 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. Everyone takes what he wants or can from it and thus changes it to his measure. Some pick out parts and reject the rest, some strain the story through their mesh of prejudice, some paint it with their own delight. A story must have some points of contact with the reader to make him feel at home in it. Only then can he accept wonders. John Steinbeck reading home men A dying people tolerates the present, rejects the future, and finds its satisfactions in past greatness and half remembered glory John Steinbeck greatness people past My wife, my Mary, goes to her sleep the way you would close the door of a closet. So many times I have watched her with envy. Her lovely body squirms a moment as though she fitted herself into a cocoon. She sighs once and at the end of it her eyes close and her lips, untroubled, fall into that wise and remote smile of the Ancient Greek gods. She smiles all night in her sleep, her breath purrs in her throat, not a snore, a kitten's purr... She loves to sleep and sleep welcomes her. John Steinbeck wise sleep fall I had seen so many begin to pack their lives in cotton woool, smother their impulses, hood their passions, and gradually retire from their manhood into a kind of spiritual and physical semi-invalidism. In this they are encouraged by wives and relatives, and it's such a sweet trap. John Steinbeck passion spiritual sweet You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous. John Steinbeck variation chaos monsters When I face the desolate impossibility of writing five hundred pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day's work is all I can permit myself to contemplate. John Steinbeck sick writing fall Three hours of writing require twenty hours of preparation. Luckily I have learned to dream about the work, which saves me some working time. John Steinbeck preparation dream writing Yes, you should talk," he said. "Sometimes a sad man can talk the sadness right out through his mouth. Sometimes a killin' man can talk the murder right out of his mouth. John Steinbeck sadness mouths men 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 loneliness animal trying I've always tried out my material on my dogs first. Years ago, when my red setter chewed up the manuscript of 'Of Mice and Men,' I said at the time that the dog must have been an excellent literary critic. John Steinbeck dog men years Look now — in all of history men have been taught that killing of men is an evil thing not to be countenanced. Any man who kills must be destroyed because this is a great sin, maybe the worst sin we know. And then we take a soldier and put murder in his hands and we say to him, 'Use it well, use it wisely.' We put no checks on him. Go out and kill as many of a certain kind or classification of your brothers as you can. And we will reward you for it because it is a violation of your early training. John Steinbeck brother men hands The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty. John Steinbeck discipline stupid writing She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt or fear, she had practiced denying them in herself. And since, when a joyful thing happened, they looked to see whether joy was on her, it was her habit to build laughter out of inadequate materials....She seemed to know that if she swayed the family shook, and if she ever deeply wavered or despaired the family would fall. John Steinbeck laughter strong hurt It is true that we are weak and sick and ugly and quarrelsome but if that is all we ever were, we would millenniums ago have disappeared from the face of the earth. John Steinbeck sick literature earth And you know what it is? San Francisco a golden handcuff with the key thrown away. John Steinbeck san-francisco golden keys I remember my childhood names for grasses and secret flowers. I remember where a toad may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer -- and what trees and seasons smelled like -- how people looked and walked and smelled even. The memory of odors is very rich. John Steinbeck flower summer memories A good writer always works at the impossible.There is another kind who pulls in his horizons, drops his mind as one lowers rifle sights. John Steinbeck sight mind writing The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business. John Steinbeck horse writing book A book is like a man - clever and dull, brave and cowardly, beautiful and ugly. For every flowering thought there will be a page like a wet and mangy mongrel, and for every looping flight a tap on the wing and a reminder that wax cannot hold the feathers firm too near the sun. John Steinbeck clever beautiful book Trips to fairly unknown regions should be made twice; once to make mistakes and once to correct them. John Steinbeck should made mistake
