Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
A writer lives in awe of words, for they can be cruel or kind, and they can change their meanings right in front of you. They pick up flavors and odors like butter in a refrigerator.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Words have powerful emotional impacts and can change in meaning over time.
In this quote, John Steinbeck reflects on the complexity of words and their dual nature. He suggests that writers have a deep respect for words because they hold the potential to evoke a wide range of emotions, from kindness to cruelty, and their meanings can shift unexpectedly. This highlights the writer's responsibility to wield words carefully, as they can influence thoughts and feelings in profound ways.
Themes
WordsPowerEmotionWritingLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of literature, one could quote Steinbeck to emphasize the impact of words.
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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My only job is to write in such a way that the reader gets a new handle on humanity.
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