There are monstrous changes taking place in the world, forces shaping a future whose face we do not know. Some of these forces seem evil to us, perhaps not in themselves but because their tendency is to eliminate other things we hold good. John Steinbeck More Quotes by John Steinbeck More Quotes From John Steinbeck I have taken as much as six years to prepare a book for writing. There is such a delirium of effort in the production of a book; it's like childbirth. And, like childbirth, one forgets the pains immediately so that when you come to write another one you dare to take it up again. Some precious anesthesia sees you through. John Steinbeck pain taken book Nearly everyone has his box of secret pain. John Steinbeck boxes pain secret Like most passionate nations, Texas has its own history based on, but not limited by, facts. John Steinbeck passionate texas facts There is no term comparable to green thumbs to apply to such a mechanic, but there should be. For there are men who can look, listen, tap, make an adjustment, and a machine works. John Steinbeck machines men looks There is one sure thing about the fall of gods: they do not fall a little; they crash and shatter. John Steinbeck eden littles fall The techniques of opening conversation are universal. I knew long ago and rediscovered that the best way to attract attention, help, and conversation is to be lost. A man who seeing his mother starving to death on a path kicks her in the stomach to clear the way, will cheerfully devote several hours of his time giving wrong directions to a total stranger who claims to be lost. John Steinbeck long-ago mother men I suffer as always from the fear of putting down the first line. It is amazing the terrors, the magics, the prayers, the straitening shyness that assail one. It is as though the words were not only indelible but that they spread out like dye in water and color everything around them. A strange and mystic business, writing. John Steinbeck color prayer writing I find it valid to understand man as an animal before I am prepared to know him as a man. John Steinbeck society animal men Many are the stories I have heard about myself. I have mistresses I have never met. When I hear that I am a sodomist and a zoophalist then I shall know that I have reached the high point of fame, but I suppose I can hardly expect such exaltation for many years. John Steinbeck exaltation mistress years How can I teach my boys the value and beauty of language and thus communication when the President himself reads westerns exclusively and cannot put together a simple English sentence? (John Steinbeck, in a private letter written during the Eisenhower administration) John Steinbeck communication simple boys It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it. John Steinbeck triumph humans believe Every man in a bank hates what the bank does and yet the bank does it. John Steinbeck hate doe men Poetry is the mathematics of writing and closely kin to music. John Steinbeck mathematics poetry writing ... a man is a very important thing-maybe more important than a star. John Steinbeck stars important men What hidden, hoarded longings there are in all of us. John Steinbeck longing The human is the only guilty animal. John Steinbeck guilty humanity animal I remember as a child reading or hearing the words 'The Great Divide' and being stunned by the glorious sound, a proper sound for the granite backbone of a continent. I saw in my mind escarpments rising into the clouds, a kind of natural Great Wall of China. John Steinbeck wall reading children Luck or tragedy, some people get runs. Then of course there are those who divide it even, good and bad, but we never hear of them. Such a life doesn't demand attention. Only the people who get the good or bad runs. John Steinbeck fate running people What do I want in a doctor? Perhaps more than anything else-a friend with special knowledge. John Steinbeck doctors special want Kino heard the little splash of morning waves on the beach. It was very good -- Kino closed his eyes again to listen to his music. John Steinbeck eye morning beach
