“In every bit of honest writing in the world, there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other.”
More from John Steinbeck
“If it is right, it happens — the main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away”
“A man so painfully in love is capable of self-torture beyond belief.”
“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”
“There’s a responsibility in being a person. It’s more than just taking up space where air…”