Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
In business and in politics a man must carve and maul his way through men to get to be King of the Mountain. Once there, he can be great and kind-but he must get there first.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Success often requires navigating challenges and competing against others, but true greatness comes from how one acts after achieving it.
John Steinbeck's quote suggests that in both business and politics, achieving a position of power often demands a ruthless approach where one may have to overcome obstacles and rivals. Once a person reaches the top, they have the opportunity to exhibit greatness and kindness, highlighting that the journey to success may be characterized by conflict, but the true test of character comes in how one leads after attaining power.
Themes
BusinessPoliticsSuccessPowerLeadership
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used to motivate a team before a competitive business pitch.
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.
John SteinbeckRead
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.
John SteinbeckRead
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