The 80 best phrases of John Steinbeck

John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American-born writer, short story writer, and correspondent for war winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and whose famous works were brought to the screen big. Among his best writings are: 'The Grapes of Wrath', 'East of Eden' and 'Of Mice and Men'.

If you are interested in knowing his way of thinking, you will like this selection of John Steinbeck's best quotes.

• Related article: "100 phrases from famous books and writers (essential)"

John Steinbeck's most memorable phrases

With this selection of John Steinbeck's phrases and reflections, we will review his work and his way of seeing life.

1. I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are so few great artists.

A great compliment to the people who teach us.

2. I wonder how many people I've looked at all my life and never seen.

People are more than what they appear on the outside.

3. The free exploring mind of the individual human being is the most valuable thing in the world.

Imagination has no limits.

4. I believe that a strong woman can be stronger than a man, particularly if she has love in her heart.

The strength comes from within.

5. Of all the animals in creation, man is the only one who drinks without thirst, eats without hunger, and speaks without having to say anything.

A reference to the recklessness and arrogance of people.

• You may be interested in: "190 wise phrases to reflect on life"

6. The art of rest is a part of the art of working.

If you don't get a break, you won't find the time to enjoy your achievements.

7. Nobody wants advice, only corroborations.

Many people hate hearing something different than what they think.

8. I wonder why progress is seen more than destruction.

Different progresses come from cruel experiments.

9. A question is a trap, and an answer sets foot in it.

That's why you should always go with the truth.

10. By the thickness of the dust on the books of a public library, the culture of a people can be measured.

Every nation must cultivate the art of reading.

11. Maybe everyone is afraid of everyone else in this damn world.

Fear is what leads us to act in the worst possible way.

12. Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn to care for them, and pretty soon you'll have a dozen.

Ideas lead us to great results.

13. I was born lost and I don't like to be found.

Being different can be a stigma in the eyes of others.

14. You must not forget that a monster is just a variation, and that for a monster the norm is monstrous.

People cannot be good if they have grown up in an environment where evil is commonplace.

15. In human affairs where there is danger and care must be taken, a happy ending can be seriously jeopardized by haste.

Acting out of impulsiveness can lead us to miss valuable opportunities.

16. Perhaps the best conversationalist in the world is the one who helps others speak.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to tell their story.

17. There is more beauty in the truth, even if it is a terrible truth.

A harsh reality is preferable to a beautiful and false lie.

18. It doesn't take a brain to be good. And sometimes I think it's the opposite.

Do you think that kindness does not come from intelligence?

19. It is much darker when a light goes out than it might have been if the light had never shone.

It's harder to recover when you once had it all.

20. What use would the heat of summer be without the cold of winter to sweeten it?

When we see things as a balance, we appreciate every change.

21. You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.

You can't understand someone if you don't show empathy.

22. A city is a lot like an animal. It has a nervous system, a head, shoulders, and feet. It is separated from the other cities, in such a way that no two are identical. And it is also an emotional whole.

Cities are kept alive by the human warmth of their people.

23. The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty.

Be careful what you commit to.

24. With a few exceptions, what men want is not money, but luxury, love, and being admired.

It is not the money, but the benefits that it gives us.

25. We only have one story.

No story is perfect, but all are beautiful because they are personal.

• Related article: "The 100 best phrases about Psychology... and its meaning"

26. The intention, good or bad, is not enough.

Intentions create great disasters when they are done in the wrong way.

27. Those who win the battles are the sheep, but those who win the wars are the free men.

The wars against ourselves and what can prevent us from a better future.

28. You are no longer a man; you are a soldier. Your worries don't matter, Lieutenant, and your life doesn't matter, either.

The reality within the battalions.

29. Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of losing power.

An interesting reflection on the true enemy.

30. How can we live without our lives? How will we know about ourselves without our past?

It is our past that builds our legacy in the world.

31. Change comes like a small breeze that shakes the curtains at dawn, it comes like the discreet perfume of wild flowers, hidden in the grass.

No change is drastic, it looks that way because we refuse to move forward.

32. All great and precious things are solitary.

Loneliness does not have to be bad, if we see it as something beneficial.

33. My imagination will give me a passport to hell one day.

When you are different, you tend to be judged by others.

34. People like that you are something, preferably who they are.

Something that stays within what they consider 'normal'.

35. Ahead of us are a thousand different lives we could live, but when it comes, it will only be one.

Life is what we choose to live.

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

It's just a sample of human cowardice.

37. If you are in trouble, hurt or in need, go to the poor. They are the only ones who will help, the only ones.

The kindest people are those who do not care about material things.

38. Greatness lives in those who triumph over defeat and victory.

Defeat makes us wise and victories should humble us.

39. I will take revenge in the cruelest way you can imagine. I'll forget it.

The best revenge is to enjoy our life.

40. And the strident little fact that echoes throughout the entire story: repression only serves to strengthen and knit together the repressed.

All the people locked up find their courage to break free.

41. I guess there are never enough books.

An absolute reality.

42. The weight of knowledge is too great for one mind to absorb.

We may not be able to bear all the truths that are hidden.

43. Don't worry about losing. If it's correct, it happens. The main thing is not to rush. Nothing good escapes.

Things happen at their right time.

44. Men don't get knocked out, or I mean they can hold their own against important things. What kills them is erosion; they are set to fail. They slowly get scared.

A failure does not defeat us, but the fact of not having the opportunities we need to grow.

45. It is in the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.

The only way to achieve success is by trusting us.

46. Socialism is just another form of religion and therefore delusional.

A critique of socialism.

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

Sleep helps us to renew ourselves.

48. To be alive is to have scars.

We all go through bad times, but surviving them is what makes us great.

• You may be interested in: ""Personal Development: 5 reasons for self-reflection"

49. It would be absurd if we didn't understand both angels and demons since we invented them.

Is religion just a human invention?

50. If they understand each other, they will be kind to each other.

Kindness comes from empathy.

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

Being perfect is a burden that prevents us from being ourselves.

52. In the souls of the people, the grapes of wrath are filling up and gaining weight for the harvest.

Anger is a snowball effect, it builds from little to uncontrollable.

53. Writers are a little below clowns and a little above trained seals.

A negative observation of this work.

54. I will fight against any idea, religion or government that limits or destroys the individual.

No ideology should limit the potential of people.

55. There is no better springboard than a bad conscience to jump into philanthropy.

Many who do good only try to hide their sins.

56. You can know this: fear the moment when man stops suffering and dying for a concept, because this quality is man himself, and what differentiates him in the universe as a whole.

When we free ourselves from our ideologies, we become unstoppable.

57. Fear infiltrated the houses where they were staying and made them sad, and it hung over the patrols and made them cruel.

Fear makes us paranoid and we tend to see the good as a threat.

58. You see him a lot in war: a coward who becomes a hero and a brave man who crashes in flames.

Not all the stories of being brave in war are true.

59. All novels, all poetry, are built on the endless struggle between good and evil that takes place within us.

An interesting origin for literature.

60. Money is very easy to make if you don't want anything else.

An almost empty motivation.

61. That is why I will fight in favor of freedom of thought, so that you can follow the direction you want, without impositions or ties.

No one can put a leash on our mind.

62. People don't take trips, it's the trips that make people.

It is by exploring new things that we discover a different inner value.

63. Teaching can be the greatest of arts, since the medium is the human mind and spirit.

Teaching should be the most appreciated for the development of people.

64. One can find so many pains when the rain is falling.

When the atmosphere is given, we can awaken all the sadness locked up.

65. A very smart guy is hardly ever a good man.

There are people who boast of their intelligence, but lack humanity.

66. When a man says that he doesn't want to talk about something, it usually means that he can't think of anything else.

What we refuse to tell is what lurks in our minds every day.

67. Human beings sometimes have more venom than snakes.

Human wickedness is also incalculable.

68. Very often men stumble and fall because of excessive precipitation.

Many failures come from rushing to where we are not yet ready to be.

69. It doesn't take courage to do a thing when it's the only thing you can do.

If it is what you need to do, sooner or later it will happen.

70. And of course, people are only interested in themselves. If a story isn't about the listener, he won't listen.

People who want to be protagonists will not see another story that is not theirs.

71. There is no sin and there is no virtue. There is only what people do.

Good and evil are carried in the actions we do.

72. Beneath his shell of cowardice, man aspires to goodness and wants to be loved. If he takes the path of vice, it is because he thought he was taking a shortcut that would lead him to love.

We all want to be loved, but not everyone is looking for it on the right path.

73. It is curious how remote a misfortune is when he does not concern us personally.

We will never be able to fully understand someone until we experience the same thing.

74. In absolute solitude, a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.

Loneliness can be a writer's best ally.

75. A sad soul can kill faster than a germ.

The sorrows that are not relieved end up devouring every gram of happiness that exists.

76. Time is the only critic, no ambition.

It can help us grow or get stuck.

77. A trip is like marriage. You are wrong if he thinks he has everything under control.

No one is in control of everything and relationships are not a cage.

78. A truth that is not believed hurts us much more than a lie.

When they don't believe your truth, nothing ever feels safe.

79. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.

Love makes us strong, never weak.

80. When two people meet, each is exchanged for the other, so you have two new people.

Change is inherent to improvement and this is the rule in a relationship.