Important Quotes with Explanations

Chapter 1

"...Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. . . . With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have to sit in no bar room blowin’ in our jack jus’ because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.--George

     George is reassuring Lennie that they will look after eachother no matter what happens.  They are not like everyone else that work in their profession because they travel together.

 Chapter 1

"Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want."--George

     George is foreshadowing what could happen in the future.  George will always put himself before Lennie.  He doesn't always get what he wants because Lennie is always there to screw it up.

Chapter 3

"Carl's right, Candy.  That dog ain't no good to himself.  I wisht somebody'd shoot me if I got old an' a cripple."--Slim

     This quote is saying that once you get older and are unable to physical needed jobs, you are no use to anyone, even yourself.  You just become a burden.

Chapter 3

"You seen what they done to my dog tonight?  They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else.  When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me.  But they won't do nothing like that.  I won't have no place to go, an' I get no more jobs."--Candy

      Candy is starting to feel depressed and realizes that he is becoming a burden.  He doesn't know how he would survive if he got kicked off the ranch.

Chapter 4

"S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that? S'pose you had to sit out here an' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick"--Crooks

     This quote shows the black man's point of view during the transition from slavery.  It shows how lonely it can get when noone is around to talk to.  He gets defensive and doesn't want anyone to talk to because he has been so secluded from the social circle.

Chapter 4

 "I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an' on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an' that same damn thing in their heads. Hunderds of them. They come, an' they quit an' go on; an' every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Everybody wants a little piece of lan'. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head. They're all the time talkin' about it, but it's jus' in their head"--Candy

     Candy is trying to make George and Lennie realize that they can't get what they want and that dreams are only made to help them get through the hard times.

Chapter 4

"Maybe you guys better go. I ain't sure I want you in here no more. A colored man got to have some rights even if he don't like 'em"--Crooks

     This qoute shows how Crooks can be influenced by different people. It also helps the reader understand the social gap that is still apparent between blacks and whites. Crooks felt confortable with just Lennie and George in his space, but as soon as someone else comes in he feels threatened and wants to show everyone that even though he is still not treated equally, he has some freedoms and rights.

Chapter 6

"-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"

     George is trying to explain that some dreams will never be obtained. It also resembles the fact that sometimes people will say anything just to get them through hard times. By saying this it reassures the reader that he was the responsible one and tried his best to keep Lennie out of trouble along with keeping him happy.