Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
It's almost impossible to read a fine thing without wanting to do a fine thing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Reading great works often inspires us to create or act in a similarly positive way.
In this quote, John Steinbeck suggests that encountering something beautiful or exceptional, particularly in literature, sparks a desire to emulate that excellence in our own lives. When we engage with profound ideas or powerful narratives, we feel motivated to pursue our own 'fine things', whether that be through artistic creation, acts of kindness, or personal growth.
Themes
InspirationReadingCreativityMotivationExcellence
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech discussing the power of literature.
More from John Steinbeck
All quotes →At one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.
John SteinbeckRead
And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
John SteinbeckRead
The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
John SteinbeckRead
People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
John SteinbeckRead
It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.
John SteinbeckRead
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