--- title: "3 Thousand miles Quotes By John Steinbeck" description: "3 Thousand miles quotes by John Steinbeck. Plus more from John Steinbeck and more Thousand miles sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c57/john-steinbeck-71_family-and-friends_a-war-always-comes-to-someone-else-in-sa_742553.jpg" --- > [“A war always comes to someone else. In Salinas we were aware that the United States was the greatest and most powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-war-always-comes-to-someone-else-in-salinas-we-were-aware-that-the/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c57/john-steinbeck-71_family-and-friends_a-war-always-comes-to-someone-else-in-sa_742553.jpg) > [“Who doesn't like to be a center for concern? A kind of second childhood falls on so many men. They trade their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/who-doesn-t-like-to-be-a-center-for-concern-a-kind-of-second/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/096/john-steinbeck-71_children_who-doesn-t-like-to-be-a-center-for-conc_837138.jpg) > [“And just as war is always for somebody else, so it is also true that someone else always gets killed. And Mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-just-as-war-is-always-for-somebody-else-so-it-is-also-true-that/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e77/john-steinbeck-71_killed_and-just-as-war-is-always-for-somebody-e_2299881.jpg) ## Other authors on Thousand miles ## 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/thousand-miles/john-steinbeck/#itemlist", "name": "3 Thousand miles Quotes By John Steinbeck", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“A war always comes to someone else. In Salinas we were aware that the United States was the greatest and most powerful nation in the world. Every American was a rifleman by birth, and one American was worth ten or twenty foreigners in a fight. Pershing’s expedition into Mexico after Villa had exploded one of our myths for a little while. We had truly believed that Mexicans can’t shoot straight and besides were lazy and stupid. When our own Troop C came wearily back from the border they said that none of this was true […] Somehow we didn’t connect Germans with Mexicans. We went right back to our own myths. One American was as good as twenty Germans. This being true, we had only to act in a stern manner to bring the Kaiser to heel. He wouldn’t dare interfere with our trade--but he did. He wouldn’t stick out his neck and and sink our ships--and he did. It was stupid, but he did, and so there was nothing for it but to fight him. The war, at first anyway, was for other people. We, I, my family and friends, had kind of bleacher seats, and it was pretty exciting. And just as war is always for somebody else, so it is also that somebody else always gets killed. And Mother of God! that wasn’t true either. The dreadful telegrams began to sneak sorrowfully in, and it was everybody’s brother. Here we were, over six thousand miles from the anger and the noise, and that didn’t save us […] The draftees wouldn’t look at their mothers. They didn’t dare. We’d never thought the war could happen to us. There were some in Salinas who began to talk softly in the poolrooms and the bars. These had private information from a soldier--we weren’t getting the truth. Our men were being sent in without guns. Troopships were sunk and the government wouldn’t tell us. The German army was so far superior to ours that we didn’t have a chance. That Kaiser was a smart fellow. He was getting ready to invade America. But would Wilson tell us this? He would not. And usually these carrion talkers were the same ones who had said one American was worth twenty Germans in a scrap--the same ones.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-war-always-comes-to-someone-else-in-salinas-we-were-aware-that-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c57/john-steinbeck-71_family-and-friends_a-war-always-comes-to-someone-else-in-sa_742553.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c57/john-steinbeck-71_family-and-friends_a-war-always-comes-to-someone-else-in-sa_742553.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c57/john-steinbeck-71_family-and-friends_a-war-always-comes-to-someone-else-in-sa_742553.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A war always comes to someone else. In Salinas we were aware that the United States was the greatest and…” — John Steinbeck", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Who doesn't like to be a center for concern? A kind of second childhood falls on so many men. They trade their violence for the promise of a small increase of life span. In effect, the head of the house becomes the youngest child. And I have searched myself for this possibility with a kind of horror. For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked to hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment. I did not want to surrender fierceness for a small gain in yardage. My wife married a man; I saw no reason why she should inherit a baby. I knew that ten or twelve thousand miles driving a truck, alone and unattended, over every kind of road, would be hard work, but to me it represented the antidote for the poison of the professional sick man. And in my own life I am not willing to trade quality for quantity. If this projected journey should proved too much then it was time to go anyway. I see to many men delay their exits with a sickly, slow reluctance to leave the stage. It's bad theater as well as bad living. I am very fortunate in having a wife who likes men, not elderly babies. Although this last foundation for the journey was never discussed, I am sure she understood it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/who-doesn-t-like-to-be-a-center-for-concern-a-kind-of-second/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/096/john-steinbeck-71_children_who-doesn-t-like-to-be-a-center-for-conc_837138.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/096/john-steinbeck-71_children_who-doesn-t-like-to-be-a-center-for-conc_837138.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/096/john-steinbeck-71_children_who-doesn-t-like-to-be-a-center-for-conc_837138.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Who doesn't like to be a center for concern? A kind of second childhood falls on so many men. They trade…” — John Steinbeck", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And just as war is always for somebody else, so it is also true that someone else always gets killed. And Mother of God! that wasn’t true either. The dreadful telegrams began to sneak sorrowfully in, and it was everybody’s brother. Here we were, over six thousand miles from the anger and the noise, and that didn’t save us.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Steinbeck" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-just-as-war-is-always-for-somebody-else-so-it-is-also-true-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e77/john-steinbeck-71_killed_and-just-as-war-is-always-for-somebody-e_2299881.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e77/john-steinbeck-71_killed_and-just-as-war-is-always-for-somebody-e_2299881.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e77/john-steinbeck-71_killed_and-just-as-war-is-always-for-somebody-e_2299881.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And just as war is always for somebody else, so it is also true that someone else always gets killed. And…” — John Steinbeck", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-miles/john-steinbeck/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-miles/john-steinbeck/", "name": "Thousand miles Quotes by John Steinbeck", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-miles/john-steinbeck/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c57/john-steinbeck-71_family-and-friends_a-war-always-comes-to-someone-else-in-sa_742553.jpg" }, "description": "3 Thousand miles quotes by John Steinbeck. Plus more from John Steinbeck and more Thousand miles sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-miles/john-steinbeck/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-miles/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": "Thousand Miles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-miles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "John Steinbeck", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-miles/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 } } ] } ```