East of Eden

by John Steinbeck

Adam knew from his years in the army that a man afraid is a dangerous animal.

Fear took the place of excitement and sorrow, and anger, brother of fear, crept in.

There are no ugly questions except those clothed in condescension.

“They do things pretty nice in Sacramento,” and Horace told how they did things in Sacramento as they rode along.

A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well—or ill?

we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.

And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.