OF MICE AND MEN CHAPTER ONE QUOTES

“Lennie was looking blankly into the muzzle of Carlson’s pistol. And then he whispered in fright, ‘I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.'”

(George, referring to Lennie’s actions)

“Lennie covered his face with huge paws and bleated with terror. He cried, ‘Make ‘um stop, George.'”

(Lennie, expressing fear when George scolds him)

“Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is.”

(George, speaking to the boss)

“You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.”

(Candy, pleading with George to let him join their dream)

“He ain’t no good to you, Candy. An’ he ain’t no good to himself.”

(George, referring to Candy’s old dog)

“Sure we will,” George said quietly. (George, assuring Candy that they will get the money for their dream ranch)

“A guy on a ranch don’t never listen nor he don’t ask no questions.”

(George, explaining Lennie’s behavior to Slim)

“Just like heaven. Ever’body 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.”

(Candy, discussing the dream of owning land)

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.”

(Lennie, expressing the bond between him and George)

“I seen ’em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her.”

(George, talking about Curley’s wife)

“She got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody. I bet she even gives the stable buck the eye. I don’t know what the hell she wants.”

(George, expressing his distrust towards Curley’s wife)

“His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their action as those of a temple dancer.”

(Slim, describing Lennie’s hands)

“I seen hundreds 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.”

(George, referring to the dream of owning land)

“Seems like Curley ain’t givin’ nobody a chance.”

(Candy, commenting on Curley’s aggressive behavior) EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT QUOTES SAYINGS

“You’re nuts. But you’re a kinda nice fella. Jus’ like a big baby.”

(Slim, talking to Lennie)

“Curley’s like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys.”

(Slim, explaining Curley’s confrontational nature)

“He can put the grain in the box, and he won’t hardly feed at all.”

(George, talking about Lennie’s eating habits)

“We could live offa the fatta the lan’.”

(Lennie, dreaming about owning their own land and living off its resources)

“I tell ya, you got it in for Curley. He ain’t been doin’ nothing to you that you’d get him canned.”

(Candy, worried about the possible consequences of Lennie’s confrontation with Curley)

“I ain’t got no people. I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain’t no good. They don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean.”

(Crooks, opening up about his loneliness)

“I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”

(Curley’s wife, threatening Crooks)

“Well, Savvy—he’s got to be killed out”

(Carlson, advocating for shooting Candy’s old dog)

“I could stay in my own house, I could eat my own food.”

(Crooks, expressing his desire for independence and equality)

“I don’t know why I can’t keep it. It ain’t nobody’s mouse. I didn’t steal it. I found it lyin’ right beside the road.”

(Lennie, talking about the dead mouse he had in his pocket)

“They run us outa Weed,” Lennie exploded. (Lennie, revealing their past troubles)

“You’re all scared of each other, that’s what. Ever’ one of you’s scared the rest is goin’ to get something on you.”

(Candy, expressing his opinion on the lack of trust among the ranch workers)

“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.”

(George, expressing the uniqueness of his and Lennie’s bond)