Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
Strange how one person can saturate a room with vitality, with excitement. Then there are others, and this dame was one of them, who can drain off energy and joy, can suck pleasure dry and get no sustenance from it. Such people spread a grayness in the air about them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Some individuals bring energy and joy to others, while some drain it away.
In this quote, Steinbeck reflects on the contrasting effects of different people's presence in our lives. Some individuals radiate vitality and excitement, uplifting those around them, while others create a dull atmosphere, depleting the energy and happiness of those they interact with. This dynamic can significantly influence our overall mood and experience in various social settings.
Themes
EnergyRelationshipsMoodPresenceJoy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about toxic relationships to illustrate the impact of negative individuals.
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.
John SteinbeckRead
The comfortable people in tight houses felt pity at first, and then distaste, and finally hatred for the migrant people.
John SteinbeckRead
People do not want advice - they want corroboration.
John SteinbeckRead
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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