1,374 Quotes by John Steinbeck

There's something desirable about anything you're used to as opposed to something you're not.

Show me the man who isn't interested in discussing himself.

They must be real people. And this means that every word in every line of speech must be accurate and full of some kind of meaning which stretches not only forward in the book but stems from before in the book.

They successfully combined piracy and puritanism, which aren't so unlike when you come right down to it. Both had a strong dislike for opposition and both had a roving eye for other people's property.

Boileau said that Kings, Gods and Heroes only were fit subjects for literature. The writer can only write about what he admires. Present-day kings aren't very inspiring, the gods are on a vacation and about the only heroes left are the scientists and the poor.

To a monster the norm must seem monstrous, since everyone is normal to himself.

I do want to make it very convincing. And the best way to do that is to put most of it in dialogue.

There's an awful lot of inactive kindness which is nothing but laziness, not wanting any trouble, confusion, or effort.

When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find himself a good and sufficient reason for going.