Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.
John SteinbeckRead
You're going to pass something down no matter what you do or if you do nothing. Even if you let yourself go fallow, the weeds will grow and the brambles. Something will grow.
Interpretation
What this quote means
No matter our actions or inactions, we inevitably leave a legacy that impacts the world around us.
This quote by John Steinbeck emphasizes that every action we take—or choose not to take—will lead to the creation of something in our lives and the lives of those around us. It suggests that neglect or inactivity does not stop growth or change; rather, it simply allows different, perhaps unwelcome, things to emerge, like weeds or brambles, thereby highlighting the inevitability of influence and legacy in our existence.
Themes
LegacyChangeGrowthInfluenceActionsInactionImpact
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about environmental responsibility, one might say, 'Remember, as Steinbeck stated, even doing nothing leads to change; let's ensure we're growing the right things.'
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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