Quotes from work

Of Mice and Men

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's
why.”

“Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head. They’re all the time talkin’ about it, but it’s jus’ in their head.”

“His ear heard more than is said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought.”

“Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”

“Guys like us got nothing to look ahead to.”

“We could live offa the fatta the lan’.”

“I can still tend the rabbits, George? I didn't mean no harm, George.”

“At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out of the beam flies shot like rushing stars.”

“A guy needs somebody―to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick.”

“Says he foun' he jus' got a little piece of a great big soul. Says a wilderness ain't no good, 'cause his little piece of a soul wasn't no good 'less it was with the rest, an' was whole.”

“As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.”

“Evening of a hot day started the little wind to moving among the leaves. The shade climbed up the hills toward the top. On the sand banks the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray, sculptured stones.”

“Guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus' works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella.”

“They come, an' they quit an' go on; an' every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it.”

“Lennie begged, "Le's do it now. Le's get that place now."
"Sure right now. I gotta. We gotta.”

“Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is.”

“I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”

“We know what we got, and we don't care whether you know it or not.”

“Trouble with mice is you always kill 'em.”