yep.

Well, I reckon' he was pretty smart...

"In every bit of honest writing in the world," he noted in a 1938 journal entry, " . . . there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. . . always that base theme. Try to understand each other."

-read at The Steinbeck Centennial Celebration