1. Home Page
  2. book quote
  3. The Winter of Our Discontent
  4. 65832
Does anyone ever know even the outer fringe of another? What are you like in there? Mary-do you hear? Who are you in there?
John Steinbeck The Winter of Our Discontent
by John Steinbeck
(0 Reviews)

In "The Winter of Our Discontent" by John Steinbeck, the novel explores the complexity of human relationships and the depths of individual identity. The protagonist grapples with understanding others and even himself, questioning the true essence of those around him. This introspection highlights the idea that individuals often remain mysterious to one another, hinting at the limitations of human connection.

The quote reflects the protagonist's struggle to comprehend the inner lives of others, including the people he cares about most. It raises profound questions about personal identity and the barriers that prevent true understanding. Steinbeck's narrative encourages readers to reflect on their own relationships and the elusive nature of self-identity, suggesting that everyone has layers that may remain hidden even from the people closest to them.

In "The Winter of Our Discontent" by John Steinbeck, the novel explores the complexity of human relationships and the depths of individual identity. The protagonist grapples with understanding others and even himself, questioning the true essence of those around him. This introspection highlights the idea that individuals often remain mysterious to one another, hinting at the limitations of human connection.

The quote reflects the protagonist's struggle to comprehend the inner lives of others, including the people he cares about most. It raises profound questions about personal identity and the barriers that prevent true understanding. Steinbeck's narrative encourages readers to reflect on their own relationships and the elusive nature of self-identity, suggesting that everyone has layers that may remain hidden even from the people closest to them.

Categories
book quote
Book
The Winter of Our Discontent
Author
John Steinbeck
Votes
0
Page views
32
Update
April 06, 2025
Report
Report a Problem

Rate the Quote

Add Comment & Review

User Reviews

Based on 0 reviews
5 Star
0
4 Star
0
3 Star
0
2 Star
0
1 Star
0
Add Comment & Review
We'll never share your email with anyone else.
More »

Other quotes in The Winter of Our Discontent

Does anyone ever know even the outer fringe of another? What are you like in there? Mary-do you hear? Who are you in there?
John Steinbeck The Winter of Our Discontent
Does anyone ever know even the outer fringe of another? What are you like in there? Mary-do you hear? Who are you in there?
Sometimes one acts so much outside that, you can not have done it. Is contrary to the character. Maybe it's not. There may only be another angle, or prints from the above can change the person's behavior.
John Steinbeck The Winter of Our Discontent
Sometimes one acts so much outside that, you can not have done it. Is contrary to the character. Maybe it's not. There may only be another angle, or prints from the above can change the person's behavior.
A reputation for money is almost as negotiable as money itself.
John Steinbeck The Winter of Our Discontent
A reputation for money is almost as negotiable as money itself.
To most of the world success is never bad. I remember how, when Hitler moved unchecked and triumphant, many honorable men sought and found virtues in him. And Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Vichy collaborated for the good of France, and whatever else Stalin was, he was strong. Strength and success-they are above morality, above criticism. It seems, then, that it is not what you do, but how you do it and what you call it. Is there a check in men, deep in them, that stops or punishes? There doesn't seem to be. The only punishment is for failure. In effect no crime is committed unless a criminal is caught.
John Steinbeck The Winter of Our Discontent
To most of the world success is never bad. I remember how, when Hitler moved unchecked and triumphant, many honorable men sought and found virtues in him. And Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Vichy collaborated for the good of France, and whatever else Stalin was, he was strong. Strength and success-they are above morality, above criticism. It seems, then, that it is not what you do, but how you do it and what you call it. Is there a check in men, deep in them, that stops or punishes? There doesn't seem to be. The only punishment is for failure. In effect no crime is committed unless a criminal is caught.
A day, a livelong day, is not one thing but many.
John Steinbeck The Winter of Our Discontent
A day, a livelong day, is not one thing but many.
A little hope, even hopeless hope, never hurt anybody.
John Steinbeck The Winter of Our Discontent
A little hope, even hopeless hope, never hurt anybody.
More »

Other quotes in book quote

They are afraid of him?' D'Harcourt raised his comedian's eyebrows. Danny Hislop's bright teeth flashed in his hairless, unremarkable face. 'If they were afraid, they'd tear him to pieces like schoolgirls. My guess is that he's gorgeous. A terrible tease and nasty at moments, but oh Maeve, he has such a way with him.… Is he gorgeous, dear Adam?' Adam Blacklock, thus addressed, said quietly, 'Undoubtedly gorgeous.
Dorothy Dunnett The Ringed Castle
They are afraid of him?' D'Harcourt raised his comedian's eyebrows. Danny Hislop's bright teeth flashed in his hairless, unremarkable face. 'If they were afraid, they'd tear him to pieces like schoolgirls. My guess is that he's gorgeous. A terrible tease and nasty at moments, but oh Maeve, he has such a way with him.… Is he gorgeous, dear Adam?' Adam Blacklock, thus addressed, said quietly, 'Undoubtedly gorgeous.
Henry of England had all the virtues and all the faults, and solved the contradiction by making scapegoats and sin-eaters of half his entourage.
Dorothy Dunnett The Game of Kings
Henry of England had all the virtues and all the faults, and solved the contradiction by making scapegoats and sin-eaters of half his entourage.
It isn't that music doesn't matter: the reverse, as it happens. So my defences against it are very strong. Can you understand that?
Dorothy Dunnett Pawn in Frankincense
It isn't that music doesn't matter: the reverse, as it happens. So my defences against it are very strong. Can you understand that?
The drink was almost certainly safe. He would probably get pleurisy, quinsy and pox from the cup.
Dorothy Dunnett Pawn in Frankincense
The drink was almost certainly safe. He would probably get pleurisy, quinsy and pox from the cup.
Happiness, that most childish of states, is infectious. Furthermore, in its innocence, it will not be hidden, even when tempered with sorrow
Dorothy Dunnett Gemini
Happiness, that most childish of states, is infectious. Furthermore, in its innocence, it will not be hidden, even when tempered with sorrow
The Buke of Ye Chess used the game as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. Neither book illustrates play or player improvement, but uses the chessboard and pieces to 'allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good'2.
Laura Caine Ramsey The Ultimate Guide to Dorothy Dunnett's The Game of Kings
The Buke of Ye Chess used the game as the basis for a series of sermons on morality. Neither book illustrates play or player improvement, but uses the chessboard and pieces to 'allegorize a political community whose citizens contribute to the common good'2.
More »

Popular quotes

Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now, but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her. Mitch Albom
All our human endeavours are like that, she reflected, and it is only because we are too ignorant to realize it, or are too forgetful to remember it, that we have the confidence to build something that is meant to last. Alexander McCall Smith
The value of money is subjective, depending on age. At the age of one, one multiplies the actual sum by 145,000, making one pound seem like 145,000 pounds to a one-year-old. At seven – Bertie's age – the multiplier is 24, so that five pounds seems like 120 pounds. At the age of twenty four, five pounds is five pounds; at forty five it is divided by 5, so that it seems like one pound and one pound seems like twenty pence. {All figures courtesy of Scottish Government Advice Leaflet: Handling your Money.} Alexander McCall Smith
In fact, none of us knows how he ever managed to get his LLB in the first place. Maybe they're putting law degrees in cornflakes boxes these days. Alexander McCall Smith
Look, if you say that science will eventually prove there is no God, on that I must differ. No matter how small they take it back, to a tadpole, to an atom, there is always something they can't explain, something that created it all at the end of the search. And no matter how far they try to go the other way – to extend life, play around with the genes, clone this, clone that, live to one hundred and fifty – at some point, life is over. And then what happens? When the life comes to an end? I shrugged. You see? He leaned back. He smiled. When you come to the end, that's where God begins. Mitch Albom
Small towns are like metronomes; with the slightest flick, the beat changes. Mitch Albom
You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole. Mitch Albom
we get so many lives between birth and death. A life to be a child. A life to come of age. A life to wander, to settle, to fall in love, to parent, to test our promise, to realize our mortality-and, in some lucky cases, to do something after that realization. Mitch Albom
But an ink brush, she thinks, is a skeleton key for a prisoner's mind. David Mitchell
Where there's bluster, thinks Luisa, there's duplicity David Mitchell
All Categories »

Categories

love
inspirational
history
soul