John Steinbeck quotes

John Steinbeck was a renowned American author known for his gripping novels. Born in 1902, his literary achievements are celebrated even today. Steinbeck's works, like "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men," are timeless classics that explore the human condition and societal issues. His ability to capture the essence of American life made him popular worldwide. Steinbeck's vivid storytelling and iconic characters resonate with readers to this day. Discover the genius of John Steinbeck and immerse yourself in his captivating tales.

And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.

- John Steinbeck

We spend our time searching for security and hate it when we get it.

- John Steinbeck

Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.

- John Steinbeck

Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.

- John Steinbeck

Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

- John Steinbeck

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts. Perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

- John Steinbeck

Lord, how the day passes! It’s like a life – so quickly when we don’t watch it and so slowly if we do.

- John Steinbeck

It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.

- John Steinbeck

If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy and sick.

- John Steinbeck

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

- John Steinbeck

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.

- John Steinbeck

I believe that love cannot be bought except with love.

- John Steinbeck

I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.

- John Steinbeck

Anything that just costs money is cheap.

- John Steinbeck

And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.

- John Steinbeck

All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal.

- John Steinbeck

A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.

- John Steinbeck

I am happy to report that in the war between reality and romance, reality is not the stronger.

- John Steinbeck

Man is the only kind of varmint who sets his own trap, baits it, then steps in it.

- John Steinbeck

When two people meet, each one is changed by the other so you’ve got two new people.

- John Steinbeck

In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.

- John Steinbeck

It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.

- John Steinbeck

It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure on the world.

- John Steinbeck

The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.

- John Steinbeck

I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature.

- John Steinbeck

So in our pride we ordered for breakfast an omelet, toast and coffee and what has just arrived is a tomato salad with onions, a dish of pickles, a big slice of watermelon and two bottles of cream soda.

- John Steinbeck

I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything.

- John Steinbeck

I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts.

- John Steinbeck

A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.

- John Steinbeck

It is true that we are weak and sick and ugly and quarrelsome but if that is all we ever were, we would millenniums ago have disappeared from the face of the earth.

- John Steinbeck