John Steinbeck

"I have friends. I have music. I have a dream."

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

"American freedom consists largely in talking about freedoms."

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view."

"It is the nature of humans to admire and emulate each other."

"The banks are fine institutions, but they are not fine enough."

"Art is the only thing that can go on mattering once it has stopped hurting."

"A person is not complete until he has known defeat, failure, and loneliness."

"Nature does not compromise or go halfway."

"The best things for being sad are to read, to write, to learn, and to understand others."

"Moderation, I'm told, is a prime virtue."

"I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything."

"The secret to surviving life is to have a dream."

"Money is the root of all kinds of evil, and yet it is such a useful root."

"The purpose of a writer is to probe as deeply as he can into human nature."

"We are not going to die. We are not going to fail."

"A leader is one who does not take himself too seriously."

"Love is the most valiant thing we do."

"Life is a series of days, and the moment is the only thing that matters."

"The world is not a wish-granting factory."

"Peace is something you make with yourself first."

"Kindness is not a weakness."

"I cannot conceive of myself as a non-writer."

"Success is making what you want equal to what you have."

"The human heart in conflict with itself is the only thing worth writing about."

"Knowledge is power, but it is a fearful power when it comes too early."

"We are only as sick as our secrets."

"A man without humor is like a machine without oil."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not in the object beheld."

"Death is the only thing we know about life."