Tortilla Flat Quotes

No, when you speak of Danny's house you are understood to mean a unit of which the parts are men, from which came sweetness and joy, philanthropy and, in the end, a mystic sorrow. (Preface.1)

If the growing Danny preferred to sleep in the forest, to work on ranches, and to wrest his food and wine from an unwilling world, it was not because he did not have influential relatives. (Preface.6)

It is a story of how these three became one thing, so that in Tortilla Flat if you speak of Danny's house you do not mean a structure of wood flaked with old whitewash, overgrown with an ancient un...

As the wine went down in the bottles, patriotism arose in the three men. (Preface.8)

And so Danny went to Texas and broke mules for the duration of the war. And Pilon marched about Oregon with the infantry, and Big Joe, as shall be later made clear, went to jail. (Preface.27)

What is a paisano? He is a mixture of Spanish, Indian, Mexican, and assorted Caucasian bloods. His ancestors have lived in California for a hundred or two years [...] He is a paisano, and he lives...

His grandfather was an important man who owned two small houses in Tortilla Flat and was respected for his wealth. (Preface.6)

And then he said the loveliest words he knew, "Ave Maria, gratia plena—"The feet of the bad Pilon had stopped moving. In truth the bad Pilon for the moment had ceased to exist. (3.20-21)