Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
When a man says he does not want to speak of something he usually means he can think of nothing else.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often avoid discussing certain topics because they are preoccupied with them mentally.
This quote by John Steinbeck highlights the contradiction between what people say and what they feel. When someone claims they do not wish to discuss a matter, it often indicates that the issue is consuming their thoughts, suggesting a deeper internal conflict that they perhaps wish to conceal or are unable to articulate.
Themes
CommunicationThoughtsAvoidanceEmotionsConcealment
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mental health, one might use this quote to emphasize how people often struggle to talk about their inner battles.
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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