A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shadows. A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically. John Steinbeck
About This Quote

This is a metaphor for the way that a person’s mind should be able to move along with a smooth, uninterrupted pace. If a person’s mind is making a lot of noise, it is probably because they are worrying too much about things that may or may not happen. For example, if a person is constantly anticipating what will happen in the future, they are likely to be constantly upset and upset people make mistakes.

Source: Of Mice And Men

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More Quotes By John Steinbeck
  1. What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.

  2. It has always seemed strange to me... The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of...

  3. Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

  4. Muscles aching to work, minds aching to create - this is man.

  5. Tom felt his darkness. His father was beautiful and clever, his mother was short and mathematically sure. Each of his brothers and sisters had looks or gifts or fortune. Tom loved all of them passionately, but he felt heavy and earth-bound. <span style="margin:15px; display:block"></span>He climbed...

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