John Steinbeck Quote

Do you take pride in your hurt?' Samuel asked. 'Does it make you seem large and tragic?... Maybe you're playing a part on a great stage with only yourself as audience... there's all that fallow land, and here beside me is all that fallow man. It seems a waste. And I have a bad feeling about waste because I could never afford it. Is it a good feeling to let your life lie fallow?

East of Eden, And, The Wayward Bus (ed. 1952)