grapes of wrath

"The women studied the men's faces secretly-

"The women studied the men's faces secretly-

-for the corn could go as long as something else remained" - chapter 1

"The men sat still-

-thinking - figuring" - chapter 1

"His upper lip was long, and since his teeth protruded, the lip stretched to cover them-

-for this man kept his lips closed" - chapter 2

"Sometimes a guy'll be a good guy even if-

-some rich bastard makes him carry a sticker" - chapter 2

"Sleeping life waiting to be-

-spread and dispersed" - chapter 3

"Spearhead seeds stuck in the ground-

-it's shell dragged dirt over them" - chapter 3

"There ain't no sin and there ain't no virtue-

-there is just stuff people do" - chapter 4

(Banks) "Breathe profits; they eat interest on money-

-if they don't get it, they die the way you die without air, without side-meat" - chapter 5

"Salesmen, neat, deadly-

-small intent eyed watching for weakness" - chapter 7

"Soften' them up Joe-

-Jesus, I wisht I had a thousand jalopies" - chapter 7

"Pur-raise Gawd-

-fur vittory!" - chapter 8

"Gonna get me a while big bunch of grapes off a bush, or whatever-

-an' I'm gonna squash 'em on my face and let 'em run offen my chin" - chapter 8

"The citadel of the family-

-the stronghold that place could not be taken" - chapter 8

"It was her habit to-

-build up laughter out of inadequate materials" - chapter 8

"If she swayed-

-the whole family shook" - chapter 8

"You're not buying only junk, you're buying junked lives. And more - you'll see - you're buying bitterness-

-buying a plow to plow your own children under, buying the arms and spirits that might have saved you" - chapter 9

"Never cold. An' future ever' place, an' people just bein' in the nicest places-

-little white houses in among the orange trees" - chapter 10

"They's too much of it to do to-

-split it up into men's or women's work" - chapter 10

"They met at the most important place, near the truck-

-this was the new hearth, the living centre of the family" - chapter 10

"It ain't kin we? It's will be-

-as far as kin" - chapter 10

"This here is my country. I b'long here. An' I don't give a ******* if-

-they's oranges an' grapes crowdin' a fella outa bed even. I ain't a goin'" - chapter 10

"That man who is more than his elements knows the land that is more than its analysis-

but the machine man, driving the dead tractor on land he does not know and love, understands only chemistry" - chapter 11

"66 is the path of a people in a flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and invasion-

-from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness is there" - chapter - 12

"Grampa didn't die tonight-

-he died the minute you took 'm off the place" - chapter 13

"All we got is-

-the family unbroke" - chapter 16

"They hate you 'cause they're scairt. They know a hungry fella gonna get food even if he got to take it-

-they know that fallow lan's a sin an' somebody's gonna take it" - chapter 18

"Family's-

fallin' apart" - chapter 18

"We'll, s'pose them people got together an' says-

-'let 'em riot'. Wouldn't be long 'fore the price went up, by God!" - chapter 20

"If it was the law they was workin' with, why we could take it-

-but it ain't about the law. They're a-workin' away at our spirits... they're workin' away at our decency" - chapter 20

"Why, Tom - us people will go on livin' when all them people is gone. Why, Tome, we're the people that live-

-they ain't gonna wipe us out. Why, we're the people - we go on" - chapter 20

"Be Bull-simple-

-that's how the cops like us" - chapter 20

"On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food-

-and the anger began to ferment" - chapter 21

"The Association don't like government camps. Can't get a deputy in there. The people make their own laws, I hear, and you can't arrest a man without a warrant-

-now if there was a big fight and maybe shooting - a bunch of deputies could go in and clean out the camp" - chapter 22

"We're Joads. We don't look up to nobody... We farm people till the debt. And then - them people. They done somepin' to us-

-ever' time they come seemed like they was a-whip pin' me - all of us... Made me feel ashamed. An' now I ain't ashamed. These folks is our folks" - chapter 22

"I can see your black soul a-burnin'-

-I see that innocent child in there"

"The migrant people, scuttling for work, scrambling to live, looked for pleasure-

-dug for pleasure, manufactured pleasure, and they were hungry for amusement" - chapter 23

"I been thinkin' maybe we ought to git up a-

-turkey shootin' club an' have meetin's ever' Sunday" - chapter 24

"In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are-

-filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage" - chapter 25

"I'm learnin' one thing good... If you're in trouble or hurt or need-

-go to the poor people. They're the only good ones that'll help - the only ones" - chapter 26

"One fella started yellin', an' nothin' happened-

-then we all got a yellin'... then somepin' happened!" - chapter 26

"You fellas don' know what-

-you're doin'" - chapter 26

"A fella ain't got a soul of his own, but on'y a prince of a big one-

-then I'll be around in the dark. I'll be everywhere - wherever you look" - chapter 28

"I ain't no good no more. Spen' all my time thinkin' of home-

-an' I ain't never gonna see it no more" - chapter 28

"Use' ta be the fambly was fust. It ain't so now-

-it's anybody. Worse off we get, the more we got to do" - chapter 30

"Go down the stream an' tell 'em. Go down the stream an' rot an'-

tell 'em that way. That's the way you can talk"

"She looked up and across the barn-

-her lips came together and smiled mysteriously"