Sep 20 2008
Quoting Poetically: John Steinbeck
1902-1968
Steinbeck’s classic Of Mice and Men is a staple of many high school and college reading lists.
Starting today… a new feature here at Waxing Poetically. Each week will randomly feature wisdom from one of our human race’s great thinkers. This week’s quotation is from famed American author of Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath author John Steinbeck.
“The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.”
What does this mean to today’s world, its economy, international relations etcetera? Is this statement more true or less so today?
Respond poetically.
Stumble It!
Well I don’t know what to say about that but you got me thinking about another book I read in high school, The Old Man and the Sea. I thought this because when I was younger for whatever reason I’d mix uo Hemingway and Steinbeck. Anyway the reason I thought about The Old Man and the Sea was because I remembered how mad I was at my teacher the year I had to read it. Almost everyone in the class failed the test I’m talking bombed it, I think I got like a 10 on it. So the teacher being a start woman realized it was because none of us read it. What was our punishment? Everyone who failed the test had to hand write the entire book. How evil is that? Anyway thanks for checking out my blog come back soon.
Was that George or the narrator? Great quote, very appropriate for the events this week.
I am afraid it means the Social Darwinists win. So much for The Enlightenment… This is a really nice idea–Thanks! ~k
Perfect quote. I like the idea of the feature too, look forward to seeing the next one.
I think the quote still applies today if not even more than before. While most people admire traits such as honor, honesty, fairness and whatnot, (The banks and Wall Street are a perfect example) people have shown that they are willing to sacrifice those morals at the expense of success. I guess it really is part of man’s basic nature to watch out for himself first. People who can rise above this are true intellectuals, but that doesn’t always translate to success. Often it doesn’t. I think the saying “Nice guys finish last” rings true more than ever in today’s world.
Maybe it’d be ever more apt to say that “nice guys get finished”. You know, in the Sopranos sense. Or, as Truman Capote remarked, “sometimes more tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.”
All depends how one defines success.
Thanks for coming by my blog, I’m still very new to this.
That quote is something that we should have heard almost a thousand years ago. The greed already took over and the nice boys get put on Prozac.
Oh well, tee hee!
it does depend on how you define success. +1.