How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
It is the nature of a man as he grows older, a small bridge in time, to protest against change, particularly change for the better. But it is true that we have exchanged corpulence for starvation, and either one will kill us. The lines of change are down. We, or at least I, can have no conception of human life and human thought in a hundred years or fifty years. Perhaps my greatest wisdom is the knowledge that I do not know. The sad ones are those who waste their energy in trying to hold it back, for they can only feel bitterness in loss and no joy in gain. (2.5.53)
In addition to disavowing any ability to convey the truth of a place or event, Steinbeck basically says it's impossible to even know the truth behind certain things. Real power and wisdom, he suggests, comes from just admitting that you don't know everything. Hey, we appreciate that—because admitting you don't know is the first step toward learning, right?
Quote #5
He drove ahead of me in the jeep and helped me find a level place in the pine grove. And after dark he came into Rocinante and admired her facilities and we drank some whisky together and had a nice visit and told each other a few lies. (2.5.79)
Steinbeck makes it sound like telling "a few lies" is just part of norming bonding behavior between strangers. Yes, as long as you're not in a courtroom or a police station, and those strangers aren't lawyers or policemen...
Quote #6
And I found with joy that the fact of Fargo had in no way disturbed my mind's picture of it. I could still think of Fargo as I always had—blizzard-riven, heat blasted, dust-raddled. I am happy to report that in the war between reality and romance, reality is not the stronger. (3.3.10)
Unfortunately, Steinbeck got a not-so-nice surprise when he finally got to visit Fargo, ND, and discovered it wasn't really like his childhood fantasies of the place. However, since he has that nifty belief in the power of fiction and the relative uselessness of truth, you probably won't be surprised to hear that he comforted himself by just continuing to imagine Fargo the way he always had, regardless of what he actually saw and experienced.