George Milton Quotes

“You never oughta drink water when it ain’t runnin’.”

“We got a future.”

“When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’. Got kinda used to each other after a little while.”

″‘I said what stake you got in this guy? You takin’ his pay away from him?′ ‘No, ‘course I ain’t. Why you think I’m sellin’ him out?′ ‘Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is.‘”

“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. They get wantin’ to fight all the time.”

“I gotta think about that. We was always gonna do it by ourselves.”

“But you get used to goin’ around with a guy an’ you can’t get rid of him.”

“Tonight I’m gonna lay right here and look up. I like it.”

“George said wonderingly, ‘S’pose they was a carnival or a circus come to town, or a ball game, . . . We’d just go to her . . . We wouldn’t ask nobody if we could. Jus’ say, ‘We’ll go to her,’ an’ we would. Jus’ milk the cow and sling some grain to the chickens an’ go to her.‘”

“For two bits I’d shove out of here. If we can get jus’ a few dollars in the poke we’ll shove off and go up the American River and pan gold. We can make maybe a couple of dollars a day there, and we might hit a pocket.”

“I was only foolin’, George. I don’t want no ketchup. I wouldn’t eat no ketchup if it was right here beside me.” “If it was here, you could have some.” “But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it.

“Lennie—if you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush… Hide in the brush till I come for you.”

“Lennie said, ‘I thought you was mad at me, George.’ ” ‘No,’ said George. ‘No, Lennie, I ain’t mad. I never been mad, and I ain’ now. That’s a thing I want ya to know.′ ”

“O.K.,” said George. “An’ you ain’t gonna do no bad things like you done in Weed, neither.” Lennie looked puzzled. “Like I done in Weed?” “Oh, so ya forgot that too, did ya? Well, I ain’t gonna remind ya, fear ya do it again.” A light of understanding broke on Lennie’s face. “They run us outa Weed,” he exploded triumphantly. “Run us out, hell,” said George disgustedly. “We run. They was lookin’ for us, but they didn’t catch us.” Lennie giggled happily. “I didn’t forget that, you bet.”

“It ain’t so funny, him an’ me goin’ aroun’ together,” George said at last. “Him and me was both born in Auburn. I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’. Got kinda used to each other after a little while.”