Cannery Row Quotes

“It is the hour of pearl—the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself.”
― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

“Our Father who art in nature, who has given the gift of survival to the coyote, the common brown rat, the English sparrow, the house fly and the moth, must have a great and overwhelming love for no-goods and blots-on-the-town and bums, and Mack and the boys. Virtues and graces and laziness and zest. Our Father who art in nature.”
― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

“He never forgot anything but he never bothered to arrange his memories. -Hazel, Cannery Row”
― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

“Then the sun came up and shook the night chill out of the air the way you'd shake a rug.”
― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

“And he didn't get tired or sleepy, for the beauty burned in him like fire.”
― John Steinbeck

“That is the way it is done, the way it has always been done. Frogs have every right to expect it will always be done that way.”
― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row

“And then the men lay down and put their heads in the girls’ laps and looked up into their faces. And they smiled at each other, a tired and peaceful and wonderful secret.”
― John Steinbeck

“Mi è sempre sembrato strano", disse il Dottore. "Le cose che ammiriamo negli uomini, la bontà, la generosità, la franchezza, l'onestà, la saggezza e la sensibilità, sono in noi elementi che portano alla rovina. E le caratteristiche che detestiamo, la furberia, la cupidigia, l'avarizia, la meschinità, l'egoismo, portano al successo. E mentre gli uomini ammirano le prime di queste qualità, amano il risultato delle seconde.”
― John Steinbeck

“They swallowed, tasted their tongues, sucked their lips, and there was a far-away look in their eyes.
Mack peered into his empty glass as though some holy message were written in the bottom. And then he raised his eyes. “You can’t say nothin’ about that,” he said. “They don’t put that in bottles.”
― John Steinbeck, Cannery Row