--- title: "3 Fence Quotes By John Steinbeck" description: "3 Fence quotes by John Steinbeck. Plus more from John Steinbeck and more Fence sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/john-steinbeck-71_absurd_maybe-we-all-have-in-us-a-secret-pond-wh_615257.jpg" --- > [Maybe we all have in us a secret pond where evil and ugly things germinate and grow strong. But this culture is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/maybe-we-all-have-in-us-a-secret-pond-where-evil-and-ugly-things-2/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/john-steinbeck-71_absurd_maybe-we-all-have-in-us-a-secret-pond-wh_615257.jpg) > [A town is a thing like a colonial animal. A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulders and feet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-town-is-a-thing-like-a-colonial-animal-a-town-has-a-nervous-system/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/john-steinbeck-71_animal_a-town-is-a-thing-like-a-colonial-animal_695658.jpg) > [He was born in fury and he lived in lightning. Tom came headlong into life. He was a giant in joy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-born-in-fury-and-he-lived-in-lightning-tom-came-headlong-into/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f32/john-steinbeck-71_book_he-was-born-in-fury-and-he-lived-in-ligh_2512695.jpg) ## Other authors on Fence ## More by John Steinbeck > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Prayer never brought in no side-meat. Takes a shoat to bring in pork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/prayer-never-brought-in-no-side-meat-takes-a-shoat-to-bring-in-pork/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“And now submarines are armed with mass murder, our silly, only way of deterring mass murder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-now-submarines-are-armed-with-mass-murder-our-silly-only-way-of/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“I’d think there are degrees of greatness,” Adam said. “I don’t think so,” said Samuel. “That would be like saying there is a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-d-think-there-are-degrees-of-greatness-adam-said-i-don-t-think-so/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and doing it better and quicker, but he never in his whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-forever-inventing-a-new-way-of-doing-an-old-thing-and-doing-it/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“You come back a changed man. Samuel, you don’t change him. He changes you. I can see the look of him in your face.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/you-come-back-a-changed-man-samuel-you-don-t-change-him-he-changes/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I find out of long experience that I admire all nations and hate all governments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-find-out-of-long-experience-that-i-admire-all-nations-and-hate-all/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I have noticed that there is no dissatisfaction like that of the rich. Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-noticed-that-there-is-no-dissatisfaction-like-that-of-the-rich/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Who in his mind has not probe the dark water?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/who-in-his-mind-has-not-probe-the-dark-water/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Sometimes, a lie is told in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sometimes-a-lie-is-told-in-kindness-i-don-t-believe-it-ever-works/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [People like you to be something, preferably what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/people-like-you-to-be-something-preferably-what-they-are/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Suddenly he knew joy and sorrow felted into one fabric. Courage and fear were one thing too. He found that he had started to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/suddenly-he-knew-joy-and-sorrow-felted-into-one-fabric-courage-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I am writing this from what we Americans call Yurrp. In Yurrp writers are taken as seriously as Lana Turner's legs are in America…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-am-writing-this-from-what-we-americans-call-yurrp-in-yurrp-writers/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I write because I like to write. I find joy in the texture and tone and rhythm of words. It is a satisfaction like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-write-because-i-like-to-write-i-find-joy-in-the-texture-and-tone/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/john-steinbeck/#itemlist", "name": "3 Fence Quotes By John Steinbeck", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Maybe we all have in us a secret pond where evil and ugly things germinate and grow strong. But this culture is fences, and the swimming brood climbs up only to fall back. Might it not be that in the dark pools of some men the evil grows strong enough to wriggle over the fence and swim free? Would not such a man be our monster, and are we not related to him in our own hidden water? It would be absurd if we did not understand both angels and devils, since we invented them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/maybe-we-all-have-in-us-a-secret-pond-where-evil-and-ugly-things-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/john-steinbeck-71_absurd_maybe-we-all-have-in-us-a-secret-pond-wh_615257.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/john-steinbeck-71_absurd_maybe-we-all-have-in-us-a-secret-pond-wh_615257.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/john-steinbeck-71_absurd_maybe-we-all-have-in-us-a-secret-pond-wh_615257.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Maybe we all have in us a secret pond where evil and ugly things germinate and grow strong. But this culture…” — John Steinbeck", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A town is a thing like a colonial animal. A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulders and feet. A town is a thing separate from all other towns alike. And a town has a whole emotion. How news travels through a town is a mystery not easily to be solved. News seems to move faster than small boys can scramble and dart to tell it, faster than women can call it over the fences.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-town-is-a-thing-like-a-colonial-animal-a-town-has-a-nervous-system/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/john-steinbeck-71_animal_a-town-is-a-thing-like-a-colonial-animal_695658.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/john-steinbeck-71_animal_a-town-is-a-thing-like-a-colonial-animal_695658.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/john-steinbeck-71_animal_a-town-is-a-thing-like-a-colonial-animal_695658.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A town is a thing like a colonial animal. A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulders and feet. A…” — John Steinbeck", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He was born in fury and he lived in lightning. Tom came headlong into life. He was a giant in joy and enthusiasms. He didn't discover the world and its people, he created them. When he read his father's books, he was the first. He lived in a world shining and fresh and as uninspected as Eden on the sixth day. His mind plunged like a colt in a happy pasture, and when later the world put up fences, he plunged against the wire, and when the final stockade surrounded him, he plunged right through it and out. And as he was capable of giant joy, so did he harbor huge sorrow.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-born-in-fury-and-he-lived-in-lightning-tom-came-headlong-into/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f32/john-steinbeck-71_book_he-was-born-in-fury-and-he-lived-in-ligh_2512695.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f32/john-steinbeck-71_book_he-was-born-in-fury-and-he-lived-in-ligh_2512695.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f32/john-steinbeck-71_book_he-was-born-in-fury-and-he-lived-in-ligh_2512695.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He was born in fury and he lived in lightning. Tom came headlong into life. He was a giant in joy and…” — John Steinbeck", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/john-steinbeck/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/john-steinbeck/", "name": "Fence Quotes by John Steinbeck", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/john-steinbeck/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/john-steinbeck-71_absurd_maybe-we-all-have-in-us-a-secret-pond-wh_615257.jpg" }, "description": "3 Fence quotes by John Steinbeck. Plus more from John Steinbeck and more Fence sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/john-steinbeck/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/john-steinbeck/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fence", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "John Steinbeck", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/john-steinbeck/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```