Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote illustrates the emotional progression of those who are comfortable towards those who are less fortunate.
John Steinbeck's quote reveals how people's feelings can shift from empathy to disdain when confronted with hardship faced by others. Initially, the comfort of the well-off breeds pity for the migrant people, but as the comfortable become accustomed to their own lives, their feelings evolve into distaste and ultimately, hatred, illustrating a troubling response to poverty and displacement.
Themes
EmpathyDisplacementSocial JusticePovertyHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social issues, this quote can highlight the dangers of ignoring the struggles of others.
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.
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People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
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It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.
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You're going to pass something down no matter what you do or if you do nothing. Even if you let yourself go fallow, the weeds will grow and the brambles. Something will grow.
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