Steinbeck's writing style mirrors his characters. He writes as the characters would speak. That simple approach is found in his quotes, but the messages imparted, like those from his books, are compelling.
“Maybe everybody in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”
“All great and precious things are lonely.”
“Now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.”
“There ain't no sin, and there ain't no virtue.
“In the people’s souls, the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy for the vintage.”
What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?
A sad soul can kill you quicker than a germ.
“Now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”
“I wonder how many people I’ve looked at all my life and never seen.”
“All great and precious things are lonely.”
“And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this, I would fight for the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this, I must fight against any idea, religion, or government that limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about.”
“I was born lost and take no pleasure in being found.”
“It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”
“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.”
“You can boast about anything if it’s all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.”
“He had an idea that even when beaten, he could steal a little victory by laughing at defeat.”
“Perhaps the best conversationalist in the world is the man who helps others talk.”
“No one wants advice – only corroboration.”
“I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.”
“I guess there are never enough books.”
“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.”
“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts ... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.”
“Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.”
“I guess this is why I hate governments. It is always the rule, the fine print, carried out by the fine print men.
“There's nothing to fight, no wall to hammer with frustrated fists.”