Of Mice and Men Key Quotations

Format: Quote - Theme

“Whit closed the magazine impressively…found the place again but he did not surrender his hold on it…then he went to his box shelf and laid the magazine carefully in.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

"An’ live off the fatta the lan’," Lennie shouted. "An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it. Tell about that George."

Theme: Hope and Dreams

"All kin’s a vegetables in the garden, and if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or something, or some milk. We’d jus’ live there. We’d belong there. There wouldn’t be no more runnin’ round the country and gettin’ fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we’d have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house."

Theme: Hope and Dreams

"‘And it’d be our own, an’ nobody could can us. If we don’t like a guy we can say, ‘Get the hell out,’ and by God he’s got to do it. An’ if a fren’ come along, why we’d have an extra bunk, an’ we’d say, ‘Why don’t you spen’ the night?’ An’ by God he would.’"

Theme: Hope and Dreams

“Everybody wants a little bit of land, not much. Jus’ som’thin’ that was his.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

“They fell into a silence. They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

“[Crooks] hesitated. "… If you … guys would want a hand to work for nothing—just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand. I ain’t so crippled I can’t work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to."

Theme: Hope and Dreams

“Curley’s wife laughed at him. ‘Baloney,’ she said. ‘I seen too many of you guys.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

"Well, jus’ forget it," said Crooks. "I didn’ mean it. Jus’ foolin’. I wouldn’ want to go no place like that."

Theme: Hope and Dreams

 “[Candy] leaned forward eagerly. “S’pose I went in with you guys.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

“ ‘We’ll do her,’…They all sat still, all bemused by the beauty of the thing, each mind was popped into the future when this lovely thing should come about.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

 “S’pose they was a carnival…we wouldn’t ask nobody if we could.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

 “I had enough…We ain’t gotta stay here…We gotta house an’ a place a hundred times prettier…”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

“Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes…An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me…An’ all them nice clothes like they wear.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

 “George said softly, "—I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would."

Theme: Hope and Dreams

 “‘Then - it’s off?’”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

“His eyes blinded with tears and he turned and went weakly out of the barn.”

Theme: Hope and Dreams

“Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly. He pushed himself back, drew up his knees, embraced them, looked over to George to see whether he had it just right. He pulled his hat down a little more over his eyes, the way George’s hat was.”

Theme: Friendship

"‘But not us! An’ why? Because… because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.’"

Theme: Friendship

"‘We travel together,’ said George coldly.”

Theme: Friendship

“Got kinda used to each other after a little while."

Theme: Friendship

“The old man [Candy] squirmed uncomfortably. "Well-hell! I had him so long. Had him since he was a pup. I herded sheep with him." He said proudly,”

Theme: Friendship

“‘I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to let no stranger shoot my dog.’”

Theme: Friendship

 “Crooks scowled, but Lennie’s disarming smile defeated him. ‘Come on in and set a while,’ Crooks said. ‘Long as you won’t get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down.’ His tone was a little more friendly.”

Theme: Friendship

"…It’s just the talking. It’s just bein’ with another guy. That’s all."

Theme: Friendship

“A guys needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.”

Theme: Friendship

“Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you…a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick.”

Theme: Friendship

 “‘An we got fren’s, that’s what we got. Maybe there was a time when we was scared of getting’ canned, but we ain’t no more.’”

Theme: Friendship

““Come on in. If ever'body's comin' in, you might just as well." It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger.”

Theme: Friendship

“I ain’t got no relatives nor nothing.”

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

"If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time."

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

"No—look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie. ’Cause I want you to stay with me."

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

"A guy on a ranch don’t never listen nor he don’t ast no questions."

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

“Slim looked through George and beyond him. ‘Ain’t many guys travel around together,’ he mused. ‘I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.’”

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

“‘You know how the hands are, they just come in and get their bunk and work a month and then they quit and go out alone. Never seem to give a damn about nobody.’”

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

“‘What’s the matter with me? Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?’”

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

“‘Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house allatime?’”

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

"‘I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin’ to fight all the time.’"

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

“Crooks said sharply, ‘You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’"

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

"‘There wasn’t another colored family for miles around. And now there ain’t a colored man on this ranch an’ there’s jus’ one family in Soledad.’"

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

"‘Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world.’”

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

“She was breathless with indignation. ‘—Sat’iday night. Ever’body out doin’ som’pin’. Ever’body! An’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs—a [n-word] an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep—an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else.’"

Theme: Loneliness and Isolation

“…the prince of the ranch…There was gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopeed when he spoke. His authority was so greate that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love.”

Theme: Power

“Slim neither encouraged nor discouraged him. He just sat back quiet and receptive…”

Theme: Power

“ ‘He better leave Slim alone. Nobody don’t know what Slim can do.”

Theme: Power

"‘Don’t let him pull you in—but—if the son-of-a-bitch socks you—let ‘im have it.’"

Theme: Power

“His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists. He stiffened and went into a slight crouch. His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious.”

Theme: Power

"‘He was so little," said Lennie. "I was jus playin’ with him… an’ he made like he’s gonna bite me… an’ I made like I was gonna smack him … an’… an’ I done it. An’ then he was dead.’”

Theme: Power

“Candy looked helplessly at him for Slim’s opinions were law.”

Theme: Power

“Candy looked for help from face to face.”

Theme: Power

“Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal. And Slim gave him none.”

Theme: Power

 “At last Candy said softly and helplessly, ‘Awright – take ‘im.’”

Theme: Power

 “‘You’ve seen what they’ve done to my dog tonight. They says he wasn’t no good to himself or anybody else. I won’t have no place to go and can’t get no more jobs.’”

Theme: Power

“He (Candy) was the master of the situation.”

Theme: Power

“We’d tell about you framin’ Crooks.”

Theme: Power

“Nobody’d listen to you, an’ you know it.”

Theme: Power

 “Curley looked threateningly about the room.”

Theme: Power

“He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy.”

Theme: Power

“Curley’s shoulders dropped and squared.”

Theme: Power

“He stood crying, his fist lost in Lennie’s paw.”

Theme: Power

“He stood up and walked dangerously towards Crooks.”

Theme: Power

“Crooks’ face lighted in pleasure in his torture.”

Theme: Power

“She turned on him in scorn. ‘Listen, [n-word],’ she said. ‘You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’”

Theme: Power

"‘Well, you keep your place then, [n-word]. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’"

Theme: Power

"‘Oh!’ She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward. ‘You’re the new fellas that just come, ain’t ya?’"

Theme: Power

“Lennie’s eyes moved down over her body”

Theme: Power

"‘If he ain’t, I guess I better look someplace else,’ she said playfully.”

Theme: Power

“Lennie watched her, fascinated.”

Theme: Power

“She smiled archly and twitched her body. ‘Nobody can’t blame a person for lookin’,’ she said.”

Theme: Power

“She had full rouged lips and wide spread eyes, heavily made up.”

Theme: Power

“‘…but you ain’t gonna say a word. You jus’ stand there and don’t say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job.’”

Theme: Prejudice

"‘[The boss gave] the stable buck hell?’ he asked."

Theme: Prejudice

"‘Sure. Ya see the stable buck’s a [n-word].’"

Theme: Prejudice

“They let the [n-word] come in that night. Little skinner name of Smitty took after the [n-word]. Done pretty good, too. The guys wouldn’t let him use his feet, so the [n-word] got him. If he coulda used his feet, Smitty says he woulda killed the [n-word].”

Theme: Prejudice

"‘…You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room.’"

Theme: Prejudice

"‘Why ain’t you wanted?’" Lennie asked.

"‘Cause I’m black…’"

Theme: Prejudice

“‘Spose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause you was black. How’d you like that?’”

Theme: Prejudice

“Crooks said darkly, ‘Guys don’t come into a colored man’s room very much.’"

Theme: Prejudice

“She turned on him in scorn. ‘Listen, [n-word],’ she said. ‘You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’"

Theme: Prejudice

“Nobody’d listen to you, an’ you know it.”

Theme: Prejudice

“‘I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now…Ain’t nothing left for him. Can’t eat, can’t see, can’t even walk without hurtin’.’”

Theme: Prejudice

“‘I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got old an’ a cripple.’”

Theme: Prejudice

"‘They left all the weak ones here,’" she said finally.”

Theme: Prejudice

"Well—she got the eye."

Theme: Prejudice

“tart”; “tramp”; “rattrap”; “jailbait”

Theme: Prejudice

“‘Don’t you even take a look at that bitch…I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her.”

Theme: Prejudice

“George said, ‘She’s gonna make a mess. They’s gonna be a bad mess about her. She’s a jail bait all set on the trigger. That Curley got his work cut out for him. Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like her.’"

Theme: Prejudice

“George signed. ‘You give me a good whore house every time,’ he said. ‘A guy can go in an’ get drunk and get ever’thing outa his system all at once, an’ no messes. And he knows how much it’s gonna set him back. These here jail baits is just set on the trigger of the hoosegow.’"

Theme: Prejudice

"Maybe you just better go along an’ roll your hoop.”

Theme: Prejudice

“‘She ain’t concealing nothing. I bet she even gives the stable buck the eye.’”

Theme: Prejudice

"'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me."

Theme: Prejudice

"If I say something, why it's just a [n-word] sayin' it"”

Theme: Prejudice

“Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again.”

Theme: Characterisation of Lennie

““Never you mind,” said Slim. “A guy got to sometimes.””

Theme: Friendship

“No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know.”

Theme: Friendship