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

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...

No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to...

No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to...

I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man...

I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man...

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...

Time is the only critic without ambition.

Time is the only critic without ambition.

I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar...

I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar...

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

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 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,...

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 hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything.

I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything.

In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy,...

In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy,...

It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if...

It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if...

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

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

Syntax, my lad. It has been restored to the highest place in the republic.

Syntax, my lad. It has been restored to the highest place in the republic.

So in our pride we ordered for breakfast an omelet, toast and coffee and what...

So in our pride we ordered for breakfast an omelet, toast and coffee and what...

A dying people tolerates the present, rejects the future, and finds its satisfactions in past...

A dying people tolerates the present, rejects the future, and finds its satisfactions in past...

Property is unstable, and youth perishes in a moment. Life itself is held in the...

Property is unstable, and youth perishes in a moment. Life itself is held in the...

The idea of a good society is something you do not need a religion and...

The idea of a good society is something you do not need a religion and...

I cannot conceive such a Being could make such a Species as the human, merely...

I cannot conceive such a Being could make such a Species as the human, merely...

When you live with another person for 50 years, all of your memories are invested...

When you live with another person for 50 years, all of your memories are invested...

The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic; the passions we...

The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic; the passions we...