All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.

The misery stayed, not thought about but aching away, and sometimes I would have to ask myself, Why do I ache? Men can get used to anything, but it takes time.

It is astounding to find that the belly of every black and evil thing is as white as snow. And it is saddening to discover how the concealed parts of angels are leporous.

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.

But most important of all, the truth, that dangerous stuff, became beautiful and more precious.

Perhaps it takes courage to raise children.

I wrote The Grapes of Wrath in one hundred days, but many years of preparation preceded it.