The incident seemed to prove to me that intentions, good or bad, are not enough.
— John SteinbeckThe Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
Use itGS4: good intentions need effective action and outcomes.
Quotes / Thinkers / John Steinbeck
Thinker · 18 quotes
John Steinbeck quotes for UPSC
18 sourced quotes by John Steinbeck on resilience & perseverance, ethics & morality, integrity & honesty, character & virtue, governance & administration, with a use case for each in GS4, Essay and interviews.
✓ Attributions checked against Wikiquote's sourced list
The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty.
— John Steinbeck"In Awe of Words," The Exonian, 75th anniversary edition, Exeter University (1930)
Use itLife: writing exposes muddled thinking; practise answer writing.
It is so easy a thing to give—only great men have the courage and courtesy and, yes, the generosity to receive.
— John SteinbeckFriend Ed to Joe Saul in Act Three, Scene I: The Sea
Use itLife: graciously accepting help is also generosity.
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.
Use itGS2: red tape and faceless bureaucracy frustrate citizens; argue for citizen-centric reform.
I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.
— John Steinbeck"…like captured fireflies" (1955); also published in America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (2003), p. 142
Use itEssay on teachers: teaching as greatest art shaping minds.
We can shoot rockets into space but we can’t cure anger or discontent.
— John SteinbeckThe Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
Use itEssay: technology outpaces moral and emotional progress.
If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy and sick.
— John SteinbeckLetter to Adlai Stevenson (5 November 1959), quoted in The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer: A Biography (1984), by Jackson J. Bens
Use itEssay on consumerism/freebies: excess abundance breeds greed and decay.
The mountains of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use. In this, if in no other way, we can see the wild and reckless exuberance of our production, and waste seems to be the index.
Use itGS3: waste management; overproduction and consumerism make waste the index.
He doesn't belong to a race clever enough to split the atom but not clever enough to live at peace with itself.
Use itEssay: scientific progress without wisdom; nuclear power vs peace.
Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts, perhaps fear of a loss of power.
— John SteinbeckThe Short Reign of Pippin IV (1957)
Use itGS4: roots of corruption; insecurity and fear of losing power drive misconduct.
We value virtue but do not discuss it. The honest bookkeeper, the faithful wife, the earnest scholar get little of our attention compared to the embezzler, the tramp, the cheat.
Use itGS4: society ignores quiet virtue while glamorising wrongdoers; celebrate honest officials.
Life could not change the sun or water the desert, so it changed itself.
Use itLife: when circumstances can't change, adapt yourself.
Failure is a state of mind. It’s like one of those sand traps an ant lion digs. You keep sliding back. Takes one hell of a jump to get out of it.
— John SteinbeckThe Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
Use itLife: escaping a failure mindset takes a deliberate leap.
The one thing our species is helpless against is good fortune. It first puzzles, then frightens, then angers, and finally destroys us.
— John SteinbeckThe Short Reign of Pippin IV (1957)
Use itEssay on prosperity's perils; sudden fortune can destroy those unprepared.
Time is the only critic without ambition.
— John SteinbeckOn Critics
Use itEssay conclusion: time impartially judges worth.
I shall revenge myself in the cruelest way you can imagine. I shall forget it.
— John SteinbeckThe Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
Use itLife: let go of grudges; forgetting is the best response to wrongs.
People who are most afraid of their dreams convince themselves they don’t dream at all.
— John SteinbeckThe Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
Use itLife: don't suppress ambitions out of fear of failure.
A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.
Use itEssay on mental health: sorrow harms more than disease; case for mental healthcare.