Quote by: John Steinbeck

There is a strange duality in the human which makes for an ethical paradox. We have definitions of good qualities and of bad; not changing things, but generally considered good and bad throughout the ages and throughout the species. Of the good, we think always of wisdom, tolerance, kindliness, generosity, humility; and the qualities of cruelty, greed, self-interest, graspingness, and rapacity are universally considered undesirable. And yet in our structure of society, the so-called and considered good qualities are invariable concomitants of failure, while the bad ones are the cornerstones of success…Perhaps no other animal is so torn between alternatives. Man might be described fairly adequately, if simply, as a two-legged paradox.


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Author Bio


  • NameJohn Steinbeck
  • DescriptionAmerican writer
  • AliasesJohn Ernst Steinbeck, Jr.
  • BornFebruary 27, 1902
  • DiedDecember 20, 1968
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionWriter; Screenwriter; Journalist; Novelist
  • WorksOf Mice And Men; The Grapes Of Wrath; East Of Eden
  • AwardsNobel Prize In Literature; Presidential Medal Of Freedom; National Book Award