Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
American cities are like badger holes, ringed with trash--all of them--surrounded by piles of wrecked and rusting automobiles, and almost smothered in rubbish. Everything we use comes in boxes, cartons, bins, the so-called packaging we love so much. The mountain of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques consumerism and the wastefulness of modern society.
John Steinbeck's quote highlights the grim reality of urban life, where excess and waste overshadow the utility of our possessions. He draws a vivid picture of American cities cluttered with trash and discarded items, suggesting that our obsession with packaging and consumer goods has led to a society that prioritizes acquisition over sustainability, ultimately resulting in a greater volume of waste than use.
Themes
ConsumerismWasteSocietyPackagingUrban Life
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about environmental sustainability at a community meeting.
More from John Steinbeck
All quotes →At one point, as Samuel urges Adam to raise his boys well regardless of the blood that might be in them, Adam tells him, "You can't make a race horse of a pig." Samuel replies, "No, but you can make a very fast pig.
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And when that crop grew, and was harvested, no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the seed, or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised, had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron, and under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated, it had no prayers or curses.
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The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
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People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
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It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it.
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