East of Eden * Quotes

"Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man."

"Mr. Trask, it's awful not to be loved. It's the worst thing in the world. Don't ask me, even if you could, how I know that. I just know it. It makes you mean... and violent... and cruel. And that's the way Cal has always felt, Mr. Trask. All his life! Maybe you didn't mean it that way... but it's true. You never gave him your love. You never asked for his. You never asked him for one thing."

"I've been jealous all my life. Jealous, I couldn't even stand it. Tonight, I even tried to buy your love, but now I don't want it anymore... I can't use it anymore. I don't want any kind of love anymore. It doesn't pay off."

"You have no repentance! You're bad! Through and through, bad!"

"If you want to give me a present, give me a good life. That's something I can value."

"But you must give him some sign, Mr. Trask, some sign that you love him... or he'll never be a man. All his life he'll feel guilty and alone unless you release him."

"Because he tried to hold me, he tried to tie me down! Nobody holds me!"
[being ask by Cal why she shot his father]