10 witty and inspiring quotes from the author of Of Mice and Men

An interviewer once asked John Steinbeck, ‘How do you go about writing?’ Steinbeck reportedly replied, ‘With a pencil.’ Elsewhere, thankfully, he was more forthcoming about the nature of writing, whether his own, or literature in general. In this post we’ve gathered up ten of the best John Steinbeck quotes, on topics ranging from the nature of ideas to the odd ‘fan’ mail Steinbeck received.

The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty. – ‘In Awe of Words’, The Exonian, 1930

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. – Interview with Robert van Gelder, April 1947; quoted in Jay Parini, John Steinbeck : A Biography

When a man says he does not want to speak of something he usually means he…