Steinbeck on "the Common Touch"

[greygirlbeast]

Someone's comment to this morning's entry, and my response to it, made me track down this quote again:

What is the common touch that it is supposed to be so goddamned desirable? The common touch is usually an inept, stupid, clumsy, unintelligent touch. It is only the uncommon touch that amounts to a damn. (John Steinbeck, 1949)

Comments

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[bleedingtom]

From that beautiful and yet blunt prose to a saying I see most often in chat rooms, "revolution starts with the freaks". I know the need for silly pieces of paper vexes most of us, but your writing is worth more than currency in a myriad of ways. It is inspirational, not in the family channel psuedo christian way, but it touches the imaginations that many people aren't comfortable possesing. The negative, the fearful imagination of our frail human hearts. Your beautiful, yet blunt style instills an epicness into horror without resorting to a billion useless adjectives, or trite backstories about a character's puppy or father's lack of attention.

If only patronage were the style once again. I'm sure that you'd have the jaded rich, desperate for something to immunize them from boredom, throwing jewels and lands your way. The clever might toss you a fossil or two.