Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Wisdom from the gentiles: John Steinbeck

Some interesting quotes from a wonderful writer John Steinbeck. I generally am averse to contemporary secular literature, but Steinbeck rises above. Whereas many novel writers are consumed with their own decadence (Fitzgerald, Hemingway), Steinbeck got outside himself and wrote about poverty (Grapes of Wrath) and religious struggle (East of Eden). When reading Steinbeck one doesn't feel as though he's writing about himself. I wonder if his German-American heritage left him less decadent and more focused on values. Also, he lived in the prime of America and not in the decadent cities.

Here are some quotes:

A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.

If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're the only ones that'll help - the only ones.

Men do change, and change comes like a little wind that ruffles the curtains at dawn, and it comes like the stealthy perfume of wildflowers hidden in the grass.

A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.

In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.

No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose that they are like himself.

Time is the only critic without ambition.

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

No comments:

Post a Comment