---
title: "5 Impulse Quotes By John Steinbeck"
description: "5 Impulse quotes by John Steinbeck. Plus more from John Steinbeck and more Impulse sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b71/john-steinbeck-71_good-god_good-god-what-a-mess-of-draggle-tail-imp_479748.jpg"
---

> [Good God, what a mess of draggle-tail impulses a man is--and a woman too, I guess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/good-god-what-a-mess-of-draggle-tail-impulses-a-man-is-and-a-woman/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b71/john-steinbeck-71_good-god_good-god-what-a-mess-of-draggle-tail-imp_479748.jpg)

> [“Sexuality with all its attendant yearnings and pains, jealousies and taboos, is the most disturbing impulse humans have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/sexuality-with-all-its-attendant-yearnings-and-pains-jealousies-and/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f29/john-steinbeck-71_desire_sexuality-with-all-its-attendant-yearnin_743677.jpg)

> [The design of a book is the pattern of a reality controlled and shaped by the mind of the writer. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-design-of-a-book-is-the-pattern-of-a-reality-controlled-and/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49d/john-steinbeck-71_another-man_the-design-of-a-book-is-the-pattern-of-a_978236.jpg)

> [I had seen so many begin to pack their lives in cotton woool, smother their impulses, hood their passions, and gradually retire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-had-seen-so-many-begin-to-pack-their-lives-in-cotton-woool-smother/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/085/john-steinbeck-71_cotton_i-had-seen-so-many-begin-to-pack-their-l_1643465.jpg)

> [He learned that when people are very poor they still have something to give and the impulse to give it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-learned-that-when-people-are-very-poor-they-still-have-something/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcb/john-steinbeck-71_giving_he-learned-that-when-people-are-very-poo_1998473.jpg)

## Other authors on Impulse

## 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/)

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