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Which famous phrase from “To a Mouse” inspired the title Of Mice and Men?
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Robert Burns
Robert Burns, engraving from A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, 1870.
The title of John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella Of Mice and Men is derived from a famous stanza in the poem "To a Mouse" by the Scottish poet Robert Burns.12
The specific lines that inspired the title are:
"The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley"
In modern English, this translates to: "The best-laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry". The phrase reflects the poem's theme regarding the unpredictability of life and the realization that even the most careful plans can fail, leaving behind only grief and pain instead of the expected joy.12