Lee, East of Eden by John Steinbeck (via literaryquotations)
Hell Yes, John Steinbeck
Posts tagged quotes
“ When you say I deserve a rest, you are saying that my life is over. ”
Samuel Hamilton, East of Eden by John Steinbeck (via literaryquotations)
“ One day Samuel strained his back lifting a bale of hay, and it hurt his feelings more than his back, for he could not imagine a life in which San Hamilton was not privileged to lift a bale of hay. He felt insulted by his back, almost as he would have been if one of his children had been dishonest. ”
John Steinbeck, East of Eden (p.254-255)
“ The afternoon came down as imperceptibly as age comes down on a happy man. ”
John Steinbeck, page 65 of Tortilla Flat (via willssingalongblog)
“ It was curious how soberly they drank that night. It was three hours before they sang even an obscene song. ”
John Steinbeck, page 211 of Tortilla Flat (via willssingalongblog)
“ For it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more. And this is said in disparagement, whereas it is one of the greatest talents the species has and one that has made it superior to animals that are satisfied with what they have. ”
John Steinbeck, The Pearl (via itsfromabook)
Emilio said, “Someday I too will ride to Monterey for medicine. Did Pepé come to be a man today?”
Mama said wisely, “A boy gets to be a man when a man is needed. Remember this thing. I have known boys forty years old because there was no need for a man.”
—John Steinbeck, ‘Flight’
“Writing to me is a deeply personal, even a secret function and when the product I turned loose it is cut off from me and I have no sense of its being mine. Consequently criticism doesn’t mean anything to me. As a disciplinary matter, it is too late.” —John Steinbeck
“ [W]ar is treachery and hatred, the muddling of incompetent generals, the torture and killing and sickness and tiredness, until at last it is over and nothing has changed except for new weariness and new hatreds. … Tension and excitement, weariness, movement - all merge in one great dream, so that when it is over, it is hard to remember how it was when you killed men or ordered them to be killed. Then other people who were not there tell you what it was like and you say vaguely, ‘Yes, I guess that’s how it was.’ ”
John Steinbeck, The Moon is Down (via fortuneandglory)
“ Fine artistic things seem always to be done in the face of difficulties, and the rocky soil, which seems to give the finest flower, is contempt. Don’t fool yourself, George, appreciation doesn’t make artists. It ruins them. A man’s best work is done when he is fighting to make himself heard, not when swooning audiences wait for his paragraphs. An elevated train two doors away can have far more to do with a fine book than advance royalties or ‘an eager printer’s boy waiting in the hall.’ If you don’t want to fight them you shouldn’t be writing. One can’t force attention by making one’s work superb. Only practice can do that. ”
John Steinbeck in a letter to George Albee, Pacific Grove, 1931 (via zeloveinitiative)
Tortilla Flat. John Steinbeck. Cover artist Ruth Gannett. Publisher Covici-Friede, 1935. First edition.
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“Ah, the prayers of the millions, how they must fight and destroy each other on their way to the throne of God.” ― John Steinbeck, Tortilla Flat
