The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.

Quote by John Steinbeck

Topics: John Steinbeck Quotes

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

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

A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.

A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.

It is the nature of a man as he grows older- to protest against change,...

It is the nature of a man as he grows older- to protest against change,...

Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps...

Man is the only kind of varmint sets his own trap, baits it, then steps...

These words dropped into my childish mind as if you should accidentally drop a ring...

These words dropped into my childish mind as if you should accidentally drop a ring...

I have owed you this letter for a very long time-but my fingers have avoided...

I have owed you this letter for a very long time-but my fingers have avoided...

I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and...

I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and...

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and...

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and...

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

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

It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the...

It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the...

Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the...

Unless a reviewer has the courage to give you unqualified praise, I say ignore the...

I have never smuggled anything in my life. Why, then, do I feel an uneasy...

I have never smuggled anything in my life. Why, then, do I feel an uneasy...

As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a...

As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a...

It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up...

It has always been my private conviction that any man who puts his intelligence up...

In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.

In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.

The impulse of the American woman to geld her husband and castrate her sons is...

The impulse of the American woman to geld her husband and castrate her sons is...

Man, unlike anything organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up...

Man, unlike anything organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up...

Sectional football games have the glory and the despair of war, and when a Texas...

Sectional football games have the glory and the despair of war, and when a Texas...

A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards,...

A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards,...

Give a critic an inch, he'll write a play.

Give a critic an inch, he'll write a play.