John Steinbeck, a renowned American writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, was born on February 27, 1902. East of Eden, from 1952, is one of his most well-known compositions.
The story covers the lives of two families in Central California’s Salinas Valley: the Trasks and the Hamiltons. Steinbeck examines themes of love, virtue, and evil in this novel, which enraptures and inspires readers through his characters and philosophy.
His understanding of human nature runs throughout the book, emphasizing the significance of “thou mayest.” Though it was difficult to narrow it down to just ten, here are ten of the best East of Eden quotations.
The following are quotes from the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
East Of Eden Quotes
It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.
We are the children of our father. It means we aren’t the first. It’s an excuse, and there aren’t enough excuses in the world.”
An unbelieved truth can hurt a man much more than a lie. It takes great courage to back truth unacceptable to our times. There’s a punishment for it, and it’s usually crucifixion.”
Don’t you dare take the lazy way? It’s too easy to excuse yourself because of your ancestry. Don’t let me catch you doing it! Now—look close at me so you will remember. Whatever you do, it will be you who does it…”
Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of man.
We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal.
I thought I had inherited both the scars of the fire and the impurities which made the fire necessary—all inherited, I thought. All inherited.”
When a child first catches adults out—when it first walks into his grave little head that adults do not have divine intelligence, that their judgments are not always wise, their thinking true, their sentences just—his world falls into panic desolation. The gods are fallen and all safety is gone.
All in all it was a good firm-grounded family, permanent, and successfully planted in the Salinas Valley, no poorer than many and not richer than many either. It was a well-balanced family with its conservatives and its radicals, its dreamers and its realists. Samuel was well pleased with the fruit of his loins.
Because,” Adam said excitedly, “we are descended from this. This is our father. Some of our guilt is absorbed in our ancestry. What chance did we have? We are the children of our father. It means we aren’t the first. It’s an excuse, and there aren’t enough excuses in the world.
I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.”
And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.
Sometimes a man wants to be stupid if it lets him do a thing his cleverness forbids.”
“There’s abandonment and love, and then there’s alove which is not abandonment.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, the wisdom of East of Eden is timeless. The quotes from the novel can help to change our perspective on life and make us better people. We should all read this novel to gain a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
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