187 quotes
Writers are a little below clowns and a little above trained seals.
For every man in the world functions to the best of his ability, and no one does less than his best, no matter what he may think about it.
The Pearl (1947)
I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.
Of Mice and Men (1937)
Ghosts could walk freely tonight, without fear of the disbelief of men; for this night was haunted, and it would be an insensitive man who did not know it.
Tortilla Flat (1935)
I seen too many guys with land in their head. They never get none under their hand.
Of Mice and Men (1937)
When two people meet, each one is changed by the other so you've got two new people. Maybe that means — hell, it's complicated.
The Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
Strength and success— they are above morality, above criticism. It seems then, that it is not what you do, but how you do it and what you call it.
The Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
The techniques of opening conversation are universal.
Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962)
All men are moral. Only their neighbors are not.
The Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
In the dusk I saw her smile, that incredible female smile. It is called wisdom but it isn't that but rather an understanding that makes wisdom unnecessary.
The Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
None of it is important or all of it is.
The Log from the Sea of Cortez (1951)
A plan is a real thing, and things projected are experienced. A plan once made and visualized becomes a reality along with other realities—never to be destroyed but easily to be attacked.
The Pearl (1947)
Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody — to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.
Of Mice and Men (1937)
It is the misfortune of men to want to do a thing well, even a thing they do not want to do at all.
The Short Reign of Pippin IV (1957)
Life could not change the sun or water the desert, so it changed itself.
Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962)
A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.
Travels With Charley: In Search of America (1962)
A powerful, big-stomached man came into the bunkhouse.
Of Mice and Men (1937)
Time is the only critic without ambition.
Writers at Work (1977)
Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
You watch your place, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy, it ain't even funny.
Of Mice and Men (1937)