Quotes – Page 307 | Just Great DataBase

The will of man is by his reason sway’d;

Brief as the lightning in the collied night;That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and Earth,And ere a man hath power to say “Behold!”The jaws of darkness do devour it up.So quick bright things come to confusion.

From the ranks of the crawling babies came little squeals of excitement, gurgles and twitterings of pleasure.

…let his sin be his punishment, let him eat it with his bread, and let that be an end to it.

he called his approach non-teleological thinking, or is thinking. The term non-teleological was coined by Steinbeck’s best friend, Edward F. Ricketts; and as the two men articulated their shared philosophy, they emphasized the need to see as clearly as a scientist: that is, to accept life on its own terms. Is thinking focused not on ends but on the process of life, the Aristotelean efficient cause of nature.

So far be distant; and good night, sweet friend.Thy love ne’er alter till thy sweet life end!

The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace.

He who brings kola brings life.

Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh,Your vows to her and me, put in two scales,Will even weigh, and both as light as tales.

A snake was never called by its name at night, because it would hear. It was called a string.

I am Fire-that-burns-without-faggots.

Yeah, said George. I’ll come. But listen, Curley. The poor bastard’s nuts. Don’t shoot ‘im. He di’n’t know what he was doin’.

When the moon is shining the cripple becomes hungry for a walk.

He imagines that when I see him indefatigable I’ll regret my decision. Such is his miserable scheme. As though I were short of slaves!

We’ve given them more than we’ve taken away, said the Commander. Think of the trouble they had before. Don’t you remember the singles’ bars, the indignity of high school blind dates? The meat market. Don’t you remember the terrible gap between the ones who could get a man easily and the ones who couldn’t? Some of them were desperate, they starved themselves thin or pumped their breasts full of silicone, had their noses cut off. Think of the human misery.He waved a hand at his stacks of old magazines. They were always complaining. Problems this, problems that. Remember the ads in the Personal columns, Bright attractive woman, thirty-five… This way they all get a man, nobody’s left out. And then if they did marry, they could be left with a kid, two kids, the husband might just get fed up and take off, disappear, they’d have to go on welfare. Or else he’d stay around and beat them up. Or if they had A job, the children in daycare or left with some brutal ignorant woman, and they’d have to pay for that themselves, out of their wretched little paychecks. Money was the only measure of worth, lor everyone, they got no respect as mothers. No wonder they were giving up on the whole business. This way they’re protected, they can fulfill their biological destinies in peace. With full support and encouragement. Now, tell me. You’re an intelligent person, I like to hear what you think. What did we overlook?Love, I said.Love? said the Commander. What kind of love?Falling in love, I said. The Commander looked at me with his candid boy’s eyes.Oh yes, he said. I’ve read the magazines, that’s what they were pushing, wasn’t it? But look at the stats, my dear. Was it really worth it, falling in love? Arranged marriages have always worked out just as well, if not better.

Being here with him is safety; it’s a cave, where we huddle together while the storm goes on outside. This is a delusion, of course. This room is one of the most dangerous places I could be.

America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves.

You’d have thought she did it because she was kindhearted as hell, but I was sitting right next to her, and she wasn’t. She had this little kid with her that was bored as hell and had to go to the bathroom, but she wouldn’t take him. She kept telling him to sit still and behave himself. She was about as kindhearted as a goddam wolf. You take somebody that cries their goddam eyes out over phony stuff in the movies, and nine times out of ten they’re mean bastards at heart.

The river was the Hudson. There were carp in there and we saw them. They were as big as atomic submarines. We saw waterfalls, too, streams jumping off cliffs into the valley of the Delaware.

Estragon: I remember the maps of the Holy Land. Coloured they were. Very pretty. The Dead Sea was pale blue. The very look of it made me thirsty. That’s where we’ll go, I used to say, that’s where we’ll go for our honeymoon. We’ll swim. We’ll be happy.