Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
The first grave. Now we're getting someplace. Houses and children and graves, that's home, Tom. Those are the things that hold a man down.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the fundamental aspects of life that create a sense of belonging and responsibility.
In this quote, John Steinbeck highlights the essential elements that define what it means to have a home: not just a physical structure, but also the relationships we build and the inevitable cycle of life and death. He suggests that houses, children, and graves signify the ties that bind a man to his roots, implying that these responsibilities can both ground us and constrain us in various ways.
Themes
HomeResponsibilityLifeRelationshipsRoots
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about what defines home for people during a community meeting.
More from John Steinbeck
All quotes βAt 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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