1,374 Quotes by John Steinbeck

And now the forces marshaled around the concept of the group have declared a war of extermination on that preciousness, the mind of man.

Nobody changes. Nobody gets hurt.

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.

...intentions, good or bad, are not enough. There's luck or fate or something else that takes over...

When I was very young and the urge to be someplace was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch.

she knew she could help him best by being silent and by being near

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.

A plan is a real thing, and things projected are experienced. A plan once made and visualized becomes reality along with other realities—never to be destroyed but easily to be attacked.

But whereas a puppy will cringe away or roll on its back, groveling, a little boy may cover his shyness with nonchalance, with bravado, or with secrecy. And once a boy has suffered rejection, he will find rejection even where it does not exist-or, worse, will draw it forth from people simply by expecting it.