Sometimes a kind of glory lights up the mind of a man. It happens to nearly everyone. You can feel it growing or preparing like a fuse burning toward dynamite. It is a feeling in the stomach, a delight of the nerves, of the forearms. The skin tastes the air, and every deep-drawn breath is sweet. Its beginning has the pleasure of a great stretching yawn; it flashes in the brain and the whole world glows outside your eyes. A man may have lived all of his life in the gray, and the land and trees of him dark and somber. The events, even the important ones, may have trooped by faceless and pale. And then — the glory — so that a cricket song sweetens his ears, the smell of the earth rises chanting to his nose, and dappling light under a tree blesses his eyes. Then a man pours outward, a torrent of him, and yet he is not diminished. And I guess a man’s importance in the world can be measured by the quality and number of his glories. It is a lonely thing but it relates us to the world. It is the mother of all creativeness, and it sets each man separate from all other men.
~ John Steinbeck, East of Eden
- From: East of Eden, one of the finest books that I have ever read by one of the greatest authors who has ever lived.
- Quote Source – Brainpickings: Happy Birthday, John Steinbeck.
- Image Source: Thank you Carol @ Radiating Blossom via More than Photography
Live & Learn 
No argument from here – fantastic author, awesome book and the kind of quote that gives you chills..
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All that Mimi. All that.
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And that passage, is why I’m such a fan of Steinbeck…..
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Me too…I don’t recall this passage but the book is just something special.
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Damn, but that man can write! Gives me goosebumps!
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Seriously. Ethereal.
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I read that book so long ago I can’t remember a thing about it, except that I enjoyed reading it.
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I’m about in that same camp. I can feel the book but can’t recall much of it.
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Another, ‘must read this at least seven times..’
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Yes, Bonnie, for me too
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Reblogged this on THE STRATEGIC LEARNER.
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Thank you John.
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The photo is gorgeous! It looks like billowing smoke from a fire in the background. And, beautiful quote. I haven’t read East of Eden.
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Thanks Carol. You haven’t read East of Eden….hmmmm, you need to get on it…
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And I guess a man’s importance in the world can be measured by the quality and number of his glories – yes.
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Yes!
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Wonderful quote and great writer…and, David, perfect photo to go along with it. I love seeing your choice of photos to go along with the words you post…always so perfect. Well, except maybe for the creepy photos. 🙂
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(Note to self: 1) Woman doesn’t let things go. 2) Love that she loves the photo that I pulled from her blog.)
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🙂
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There is something timeless in writers like Steinbeck-evocative photo pairing with with passage. Thanks for the reminder, that I need to re-read that book! 🙂
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He is amazing. I need to re-read it too!
On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 5:17 PM, lead.learn.live. wrote:
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Wonderful! I love John Steinbeck, such an excellent writer! 🙂
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Yes, he writes at a higher plane that most.
On Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 2:01 PM, lead.learn.live. wrote:
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