24 Best John Steinbeck Quotes

“Well, we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof.”

George describes the dream farm to Lennie, emphasizing the comfort and freedom it would bring.

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.”

Lennie explains to George why they are different from other ranch hands who are alone.

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place.”

George tells Lennie about the loneliness of their life, contrasting it with their friendship.

“A guy needs somebody—to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.”

Crooks speaks about his isolation and the universal need for companionship.

“I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys. But I tell ya, I wasn't gonna stay in the house no more. I was gonna go out in the fields and work.”

Curley's wife expresses her regret and her desire for a different life, revealing her own dreams.

“I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”

Candy reflects on his failure to protect his dog, foreshadowing George's decision to shoot Lennie himself.

“I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there.”

Tom Joad's farewell to his mother, after he decides to leave the family to fight for justice, echoing the biblical promise of presence.

“And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.”

From an intercalary chapter, reflecting on the resilience of the oppressed.

“The people are the road. The people are the road.”

A line from an intercalary chapter, emphasizing the collective identity of the migrants.

“Wherever they's a cop that beats a guy, wherever they's a hungry kid, wherever they's a man that's fightin' for his rights, I'll be there.”

Tom Joad's speech to his mother, explaining his new mission after Casy's death.

“The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it.”

A tenant farmer explaining the impersonal power of the banks that evict them.

“Maybe that's the thing. Maybe that's the thing.”

Ma Joad's reflection on the idea of 'we' versus 'I', as the family learns to think collectively.

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

Lee says this to Cal near the end of the novel, encouraging him to accept his flaws and choose goodness.

“All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil.”

Steinbeck's narrator reflects on the central theme of the novel in the opening pages.

“I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one... Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil.”

The narrator's philosophical meditation on the universal human story, early in the book.

“A man, after he has passed through the fire, is stronger.”

Samuel Hamilton says this to Adam, reflecting on the resilience that comes from suffering.

“It is a hard thing to leave any deeply routined life, even if you hate it.”

The narrator comments on Cathy's decision to leave her life, highlighting the pull of habit.

“But the pearl was a thing of great value, and the pearl buyers knew that they would have to pay a great price for it.”

Narrator describing the pearl buyers' collusion to underpay Kino.

“Kino heard the little splash of the pearl as it fell into the water.”

Final line of the novel, as Kino throws the pearl back into the sea.

“Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.”

Opening lines of the novel, setting the tone and describing the essence of the place.

“It has always seemed to me that a man's character is not determined by the way he makes his living, but by the way he treats his fellow man.”

Narrator's reflection on the nature of the people of Cannery Row.

“The word is a symbol, and the thing is the thing. But the word is not the thing.”

Doc's philosophical musing on language and reality.

“It's all a matter of the way you look at it.”

A common saying among the characters, reflecting the novel's theme of perspective.

“The boys were not very bright, but they were not stupid either. They were just ordinary men, with all the faults and virtues of ordinary men.”

Narrator's description of Mack and the boys.