1,374 Quotes by John Steinbeck

They said I looked like a foreign devil; they said I spoke like a foreign devil. I made mistakes in manners, and I didn't know delicacies that had grown up since my father left. They wouldn't have me. You can believe it or not - I'm less foreign here than I was in China.

When shoes and clothes and food, when hope is gone we'll all have the rifle.

You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous.

Because time does the job, dynamite can't touch. (Samuel Hamilton)

My wife married a man; I saw no reason why she should inherit a baby...I am very fortunate in having a wife who likes being a woman, which means that she likes men, not elderly babies.

A stilted heron labored up into the air and pounded down the river.

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... The banks were machines and masters all at the same time...They breathe profits; they eat the interest on money. If they don't get it they die... It is a sad thing, but it is so. It is just so.

A writer lives in awe of words, for they can be cruel or kind, and they can change their meanings right in front of you. They pick up flavors and odors like butter in a refrigerator.

If it is right, it happens-the main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.