My whole work drive has been aimed at making people understand each other. . . John Steinbeck More Quotes by John Steinbeck More Quotes From John Steinbeck But a man needs company. John Steinbeck company men needs A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. John Steinbeck crooks guy nuts A man who gets few letters does not open one lightly. John Steinbeck doe letters men Once I knew the City very well, spent my attic days there, while others were being a lost generation in Paris, I fledged in San Francisco, climbed its hills. slept in its parks, worked on its docks, marched and shouted in its revolts~ It had been to me in the days of my poverty and it did not resent my temporary solvency. John Steinbeck san-francisco paris cities Men seem to be born with a debt they can never pay no matter how hard they try. John Steinbeck trying pay men Only let a man say that he will do something and a whole mechanism goes to work to stop him. John Steinbeck difficulty whole men You are not a man anymore. You are a soldier. Your comfort is of no importance and your life isn't of much importance. Most of your orders will be unpleasant, but that's not your business. They should've trained you for this, and not for flower-strewn streets. They should have built your soul with truth, not led along with lies. John Steinbeck flower military lying Charley is a mind-reading dog. There have been many trips in his lifetime, and often he has to be left at home. He knows we are going long before the suitcase has come out, and he paces and worries and whines and goes into a state of mild hysteria. John Steinbeck reading dog travel He was born in Bercy on the outskirts of Paris and trained in France, and while he knows a little Poodle-English, he responds quickly only to commands in French. Otherwise he has to translate, and that slows him down. John Steinbeck poodles paris dog Sir, this is a unique dog. He does not live by tooth or fang. He respects the right of cats to be cats although he doesn't admire them. He turns his steps rather than disturb an earnest caterpillar. His greatest fear is that someone will point out a rabbit and suggest that he chase it. This is a dog of peace and tranquility. John Steinbeck humor dog friendship It is my experience that in some areas [my poodle] Charley is more intelligent that I am, but in others he is abysmally ignorant. He can't read, can't drive a car, and has no grasp of mathematics. But in his own field of endeavor, which he is now practicing, the slow, imperial smelling over and anointing on an area, he has no peer. Of course his horizons are limited, but how wide are mine? John Steinbeck intelligent dog friendship 'He's got a can up there,' Richard said. John Steinbeck reflection said Fella in business got to lie an' cheat, but he calls it somepin else. That's what's important. You go steal that tire an' you're a thief, but he tried to steal your four dollars for a busted tire. They call that sound business. John Steinbeck important business lying For the most part people are not curious except about themselves. John Steinbeck narcissism narcissist people Like most modern people, I don't believe in prophecy or magic and then spend half my time practicing it. John Steinbeck magic believe people The design of a book is the pattern of a reality controlled and shaped by the mind of a writer. John Steinbeck design book reality As with many people, Charles, who could not talk, wrote with fullness. He set down his loneliness and his perplexities, and he put on paper many things he did not know about himself. John Steinbeck loneliness paper people 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 feelings book firsts I think bullfights are for men who aren't very brave and wish they were. If you saw one you'll know what I mean. Remember after all the cape work when the bull tries to kill something that isn't there? Remember how he gets confused and uneasy, sometimes just stands and looks for an answer? Well, then they have to give him a horse or his heart will break. He has to get his horns into something solid or his spirit dies. Well, I'm that horse. And that's the kind of men I get, confused and puzzled. If they can get a horn into me, that's a little triumph. John Steinbeck horse confused heart But I think that because they trusted themselves and respected themselves as individuals, because they knew beyond doubt that they were valuable and potentially moral units -- because of this they could give God their own courage and dignity and then receive it back. Such things have disappeared perhaps because men do not trust themselves anymore, and when that happens there is nothing left except perhaps to find some strong sure man, even though he may be wrong, and to dangle from his coattails. John Steinbeck strong men thinking
