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John Steinbeck Quotes about Reading

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A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers. Everyone takes what he wants or can from it and thus changes it to his measure. Some pick

A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers. Everyone takes what he wants or can from it and thus changes it to his measure. Some pick out parts and reject the rest, some strain the story through their mesh of prejudice, some paint it with their own delight. A story must have some points of contact with the reader to make him feel at home in it. Only then can he accept wonders.

John Steinbeck
Reading, Home, Men
John Steinbeck (2007). “Travels with Charley and Later Novels, 1947-1962”

I remember as a child reading or hearing the words 'The Great Divide' and being stunned by the glorious sound, a proper sound for the granite backbone of a continent. I saw in my mind escarpments rising into the clouds, a kind of natural Great Wall of China.

John Steinbeck
Children, Wall, Reading
John Steinbeck (1980). “Travels with Charley in Search of America”, p.93, Penguin

A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers.

John Steinbeck
Reading, Men, Thinking
John Steinbeck (2008). “The Winter of Our Discontent”, p.84, Penguin

Charley is a mind-reading dog. There have been many trips in his lifetime, and often he has to be left at home. He knows we are going long before the suitcase has come out, and he paces and worries and whines and goes into a state of mild hysteria.

John Steinbeck
Dog, Travel, Reading
John Steinbeck (1980). “Travels with Charley in Search of America”, p.12, Penguin

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