20 Classic The Grapes of Wrath Quotes

You will love these The Grapes of Wrath quotes from this timeless classic!

The Grapes of Wrath was written in 1929 by John Steinbeck and won the National Book of the Year award and the Pulitzer Prize.

This classic is an American realist book that accurately portrays the struggles of a fictional family striving to survive the Great Depression.

To survive, the Joads must decide to leave their family farm in Oklahoma to make the trek to California to find jobs.

As the entire family spanning three generations, leaves their home in Oklahoma, we see the struggles they had to deal with.

As a realist novel, not all family members can survive the ordeals the Joads must deal with.

As in most things, the Joads learn that the rumors of it being a “Promised Land” are vastly overrated upon reaching California.

Enjoy these quotes that will excite you to read or reread this classic American novel.

Memorable The Grapes of Wrath Quotes

Below are some of the most memorable quotes from the classic novel.

1. “We take a beatin’ all the time.” – John Steinbeck

2. “I nearly always write just as I nearly always breathe.” – John Steinbeck

3. “Death was a friend, and sleep was death’s brother.” – John Steinbeck

4. “And her eyes were on the highway, where life whizzed by.” – John Steinbeck

5. “You’re bound to get idears if you go thinkin’ about stuff.” – John Steinbeck

6. “It’s the monster. The bank isn’t a man.” – John Steinbeck

7. “And her joy was nearly like sorrow.” – John Steinbeck

8. “I climb fences when I got fences to climb.” – John Steinbeck

9. “I ain’t sleepin’. I got too much to puzzle with.” – John Steinbeck

10. “There ain’t no sin, and there ain’t no virtue. There’s just stuff people do.” – John Steinbeck

Introspective The Grapes of Wrath Quotes

This next set of quotes shows us some deep thinking the characters are doing.

11. “Maybe that makes us tough. Rich fellas come up an’ they die, an’ their kids ain’t no good, an’ they die out.” – John Steinbeck

12. “She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken.” – John Steinbeck

13. “Look out for luck. You can’t trus’ luck.” – John Steinbeck

14. “I never fixed no car in my life ‘thout cuttin’ myself. Now it’s done, I don’t have to worry no more.” – John Steinbeck

15. “Up ahead they’s a thousan’ lives we might live, but when it comes it’ll on’y be one.” – John Steinbeck

16. “It ain’t kin we? It’s will we?” – John Steinbeck

17. “They had not grown up in the paradoxes of industry. Their senses were still sharp to the ridiculousness of the industrial life.” – John Steinbeck

18. “The clouds appeared and went away, and in a while, they did not try anymore.” – John Steinbeck

19. “If you’re in trouble or hurt or need–go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help–the only ones.” – John Steinbeck

20. “How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?” – John Steinbeck

The Trials of Yesterday Can Teach Us About Today

Although the Great Depression was nearly a century ago, this realist novel can still teach us many things.

Things about family, hard times, and that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

We hope these The Grapes of Wrath quotes have inspired you to read this and other classic novels.

If you enjoyed these quotes, you will also like our Tom Joad quotes.

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