'Of Mice and Men' Quotes Explained

The following "Of Mice and Men" quotes represent some of the most significant elements of the novel, including the themes of nature, strength, and dreams. Additionally, Steinbeck's use of vernacular language and colloquial dialects is evident in many of these passages.

Opening Lines

This passage, which serves as the novel's opener, establishes from the very beginning the importance of land and nature to the text — specifically, an idealized version of nature. The river runs “deep and green,” the water is “warm,” the sands are “yellow…in the sunlight,” the foothills “golden,” the mountains “strong,” and the willows “fresh and green."

Each adjective is positive and healthy. Taken together, these descriptions create a romanticized image of the natural world. The passage suggests that the natural world is epic and powerful, the animals and plants living blissfully and peacefully according to their natural rhythms, coming and going as they please, untouched by man’s destructive hand.

"There Is a Path Through the Willows..."

Untouched, that is, until the beginning of the second paragraph when into this scene come “boys,” and “tramps,” who wreak all manner of havoc on this natural scene. The path through the willows soon becomes a “path beaten hard" as the men walk all over it, ruining it of its proper tenderness. There is an “ash pile by many fires,” which suggests more harm to the landscape, both in that it implies the area is well-traveled, as well as because fires are damaging to the ground upon which they burn. Moreover, these frequent visits have “worn smooth” a tree limb that the men have used as a bench, deforming it.

This paragraph introduces the uneasy balance, central to the novel, between an idealized version of the natural world and the actual version in which people live — in other words, the world of mice and the world of men. The more the world of men tries to attain or possess the world of mice, the more they harm it and consequently, the more they lose it.

Lennie and the Mouse

This statement, made by George to Lennie, reveals Lennie’s gentle nature, as well as his inability to prevent his physical power from bringing destruction upon those smaller than him. Throughout the novel, Lennie is often seen petting soft objects, ranging from a mouse to a rabbit to a woman's hair.

In this particular passage, nothing of consequence comes of Lennie's actions — he is simply touching a dead mouse. However, the moment foreshadows another scene: later in the novel, Lennie attempts to stroke Curley's wife's hair and accidentally breaks her neck in the process. Lennie's unintended but inevitable acts of destruction serve as a metaphor for humanity's destructive nature. Despite our best-laid plans, the novel suggests, humans cannot help but leave behind a ruinous wake.

Crooks's Speech

In this speech, a farmhand named Crooks rejects Lennie’s notion that he and George will one day buy a piece of land and live off of it. Crooks claims that he has heard many people make these sorts of claims before, but that none of them have ever come to fruition; rather, he says “it’s just in their head.”

This statement encapsulates Crooks’ (justified) skepticism about George and Lennie’s plan, as well as a deeper doubt about anyone's ability to attain whatever idealized sanctuary they have envisioned for themselves. According to Crooks, “[n]obody never gets to Heaven, and nobody gets no land." Whether the dream is eternal spiritual salvation or just a few acres to call your own, nobody can actually achieve it.  

Lennie and George's Farm Conversation

This exchange between George and Lennie takes place at the end of the novel. In it, the two characters describe for each other the farm they hope to live on one day. They plan to have rabbits, pigs, cows, chickens, and alfalfa, none of which they currently have access to on the barley farm. The dream of having their own farm is a refrain to which the pair often return throughout the book. Lennie seems to believe the dream is realistic, even if currently out of reach. But for most of the book, it is unclear whether George shares that belief or simply considers it an idle fantasy that helps him get through the day.

By the time this scene occurs, however, George is preparing to kill Lennie and he clearly knows the farm dream will never become reality. Interestingly, even though they have had this conversation before, only now does George assent when Lennie asks him if they can have rabbits — a recurring symbol throughout the book — on the farm. Given that he is about to shoot Lennie, this juxtaposition implies that, for the characters in "Of Mice and Men," the more they hope to attain in the real world, the further from it they must travel.