Steinbeck East Of Eden Quotes & Sayings

They're a dark people with a gift for suffering way past their deserving. It's said that without whiskey to soak and soften the world, they'd kill themselves. (Irish) — John Steinbeck

A leader should be able to see and know what to do! His acumen should give the men a reason to rule their season. — Anyaele Sam Chiyson

I have no confidence whatsoever in BP . I think that they do not know what they are doing. — Ed Markey

Once the 'what' is decided, the 'how' always follows. We must not make the 'how' an excuse for not facing and accepting the 'what.' — Pearl S. Buck

In a bitter night, a mustard night that was last night, a good thought came and the dark was sweetened when the day sat down. And this thought went from evening star to the late dipper on the edge of the first light
that our betters spoke of. — John Steinbeck

A writer of stories is a liar. — John Steinbeck

Wishing just brought earned disappointment. — John Steinbeck

Liza with her acceptance could take care of tragedy; she had no real hope this side of Heaven. — John Steinbeck

There is more beauty in truth, even if it is a dreadful beauty. The storytellers at the city gate twist life so that it looks sweet to the lazy and the stupid and the weak, and this only strengthens their infirmities and teaches nothing, cures nothing, nor does it let the heart soar. — John Steinbeck

We all have that heritage, no matter what old land our fathers left. All colors and blends of Americans have somewhat the same tendencies. It's a breed - selected out by accident. And so we're overbrave and overfearful - we're kind and cruel as children. We're overfriendly and at the same time frightened of strangers. We boast and are impressed. We're oversentimental and realistic. We are mundane and materialistic - and do you know of any other nation that acts for ideals? We eat too much. We have no taste, no sense of proportion. We throw our energy about like waste. In the old lands they say of us that we go from barbarism to decadence without an intervening culture. Can it be that our critics have not the key or the language of our culture? — John Steinbeck

sometimes, as you ought to remember, you want some conversation, some meat along with the sizzle. Bonnie had the sizzle, but I knew it wasn't going to be enough, even for the summer, when she picked up a copy of East of Eden I had on the nightstand and said she didn't know I was religious." "Religious?" "She figured Eden - so it must be a biblical story. She didn't even know who Steinbeck was." And he could still shake his head over that. "Even an overbite can't make up for that. — Nora Roberts

There's a capacity for appetite ... that a whole heaven and earth of cake can't satisfy — John Steinbeck

There can be no doubt that the existing Fauna and Flora is but the last term of a long series of equally numerous contemporary species, which have succeeded one another, by the slow and gradual substitution of species for species, in the vast interval of time which has elapsed between the deposition of the earliest fossiliferous strata and the present day. — Thomas Henry Huxley

A man can do a lot of damage in the church. When someone comes here, he's got his guard up. But in church a man's wide open. — John Steinbeck

I eat stories like grapes. — John Steinbeck

We can guess that the unacceptable conduct of the soldiers at Abu Ghraib resulted in part from the dangerous state of affairs on the ground in a theater of war. — John Yoo

It is easy, out of laziness, out of weakness, to throw oneself into the lap of deity, saying, 'I couldn't help it; the way was set.' But think of the glory of the choice! — John Steinbeck

My hands are already full writing and directing, because that's a full time job. Actually, that's why I don't produce as well, as there's already enough producers. — David Twohy

The weight of knowledge is too great for one mind to absorb. — John Steinbeck

I don't think there is a single sentence in this whole book [East of Eden] that does not either develop character, carry on the story or provide necessary background. — John Steinbeck

and what is truth?" "East of Eden — John Steinbeck

Disempowerment - whether defined in terms of a lack of self-confidence , apathy, fear, or an inability to take charge of one's own life - is perhaps the most unrecognised problem in Africa today. — Wangari Maathai

I think the difference between a lie and a story is that a story utilizes the trappings and appearance of truth for the interest of the listener as well as of the teller. A story has in it neither gain nor loss. But a lie is a device for profit or escape. I suppose if that definition is strictly held to, then a writer of stories is a liar - if he is financially fortunate. — John Steinbeck

It was his first experience with this kind of love and it nearly killed him. — John Steinbeck

Some people think it's an insult to the glory of their sickness to get well. — John Steinbeck

Some men are friends with the whole world in their hearts, and there are others that hate themselves and spread their hatred around like butter on hot bread. — John Steinbeck

I am too young and I've loved you too much. — Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Tom , the third son, was most like his father. He was born in fury and he lived in lightning.Tom came headlong into life. He was a giant in joy and enthusiasms. He didn't discover the world and its people, he created them..He lived in a world shining and fresh and as uninspected as Eden on the sixth day. — John Steinbeck

The deepest words
of the wise man teach us
the same as the whistle of the wind when it blows
or the sound of the water when it is flowing. — Antonio Machado

According to our Christian ethics, we're supposed to love God, love each other and help take care of the poor. It is immoral to charge somebody making $5,000 an income tax. — Bob Riley

In East of Eden, John Steinbeck wrote that there's never been a great creative collaboration. When the Beatles first burst on the scene, I thought they were proving him wrong. Later, we learned that Lennon and McCartney had each composed their pop masterpieces separately, individually. So it goes. — Tom Robbins

There's a passage in John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" that does a pretty good job describing California's rainfall patterns:

The water came in a 30-year cycle. There would be five to six wet and wonderful years when there might be 19 to 25 inches of rain, and the land would shout with grass. Then would come six or seven pretty good years of 12 to 16 inches of rain. And then the dry years would come ... — John Steinbeck

We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the neverending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is. — John Steinbeck

I would never be innovative enough to "blaze my own trail," I'm just trying to be interesting. So I don't look to anyone else as far as inspiration. — Henry Rollins

One of my favorite things I read was John Steinbeck's journals while he was writing 'East of Eden,' which was so cool. — Paul Dano

The proofs that God does not exist are very strong, but in lots of people they are not as strong as the feeling that He does. — John Steinbeck

I wonder if he had a Cathy and who see was. — John Steinbeck