Apologies if this should be somewhere else. 

I would be really grateful if anyone could help me identify a Steinbeck quote: I believe it is from East of Eden or Cannery Row - though internet searches are not unearthing it.

In the quotation, which is, as I recall, a paragraph long, Steinbeck urges the reader to consider the words of unlikely people, eg. criminals or priests.. and recognise that even the most myopic or corrupted people do have some wisdom. That is the gist of what he is saying.

He does use examples, of which, I think priest and criminal/conman were two - but I'm not entirely sure.

If you could help, it would be much appreciated. Everyone must know that horrible feeling of knowing something but not knowing it!