the ranch. Nature is also associated strongly with Lennie, who feels a deep affinity with natural creatures. This setting bookends the novella and represents an arena of peace and refuge for the men:

On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees—willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding; and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch over the pool. On the sandy bank under the trees the leaves lie deep and so crisp that a lizard makes a great skittering if he runs among them. Rabbits come out of the brush.

Another important quote occurs when George talks about the farm he and Lennie dream of buying so that they can escape the life of migrant labor. From the start, the talk of the dream farm has a ritualistic, lulling quality, and it is clear that Lennie knows this story by heart:

"O.K. Someday—we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and—"

"An' live off the fatta the lan',"Lennie shouted. "An' have rabbits. Go on, George!"

This story will be repeated throughout the book, acting as a motif that contrasts with the grimness of the ranch life and draws in other ranchers who want to be part of this alternative society.

The quote below establishes that for all his harsh words toward Lennie, his threats of leaving him, and his insistence that having to care for him is burden, George cares about Lennie:

I was jus' foolin', Lennie. 'Cause I want you to stay with me.

Other important quotes establish the appearance of these two main characters. George is "small and quick," while Lennie is "a huge man," likened to a bear. The chapter does important scene-setting and establishes the nature of the relationship between George and Lennie.

As this question is rather nebulous, consideration will be given to passages that relate to characterization and to foreshadowing since these two literary techniques are prominent in this chapter.

Characterization

George Milton is described as

The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features.  Every part of him was defined:  small, strong hand, slender arms, a thin and bony nose.

Curiously, George Milton, whose name suggests the brillant 17th century poet who wrote the epic poem Paradise Lost, is a small man, yet the adjective strong is applied to him twice.  His senses are keen and his restless eyes suggest intelligence.  On the other hand, the second man, who follows along dragging his feet as a bear would and described in zoomorphic tones, lunges for the water and immerses himself entirely in the pond as would an animal:

Behind him [George], walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulder; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.  His arms did not swing at his sides, but hung loosely. 

Rather than being strong in characterisctics, Lennie drags his feet and lunges for the water,  drinking with "long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse."  It is apparent that George is the brains of the two men, and Lennie the brawn.

Foreshadowing

That problems may arise is suggested by the allusions that George makes to the town Weed, from which George and Lennie suddenly fled; in addition, George bemoans,

"I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn't have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl."

The idyllic scene of the clearing prompts Lennie to ask George to recite their "dream of owning a farm of their own" for him. While he does so, George also cautions Lennie,

"...Well, look, Lennie--if you jus' happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here and ' hide in the brush."

And it is to this Eden-like garden of flora and fauna that Lennie runs at the end of the novella.

Finally, as the men bed down,

The red light dimmed on the coals.  Up the hill from the river a coyote yammered, and a dog answered from the other side of the stream.  The sycamore leaves whispered in a little night breeze.

Certainly, these last lines of Chapter 1 suggest ominous occurrences as the red can symbolize blood and the coyote is a predatory animal. 

Chapter 2 introduces the reader to the characters as George and Lennie arrive at the bunkhouse and talk with old Candy, the swamper,

As George inspects his bunk, he finds a can of insect spray.  But, Candy assures him the previous occupant was very clean.  When George asks why the man quit, Candy replies

"Why...the way a guy will.....Just wanted to move....Just says 'gimme my time one night, that way any guy would."

Dispossessed from their homes, the itinerant men are uncomfortable anywhere. Then the latch on the door is raised and the boss enters,

He wore blue jean trousers.... On his head was a soiled brown Statson hat, and he wore high-heeled boots and spurs to prove he was not a laboring man.

Suspicious when George speaks for Lennie, the boss tells George,

"Then, why don't you let him answer?  What you trying to put over?....Milton, I got my eye on you."

His son, Curley, soon appears in the doorway. He, too, wears heeled boots as a sign of superiority:

....a young man came into the bunk house; a thin young man with a brown face, with brown eyes and a head of tightly curled hair.  He wore a work blove on his left hand, and asks, 'Seen my old man?' he asked.

Glancing at George and Lennie,

His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists.  He stiffened and went into a slight crounch.  His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious.

Curley, a former boxer, challenges them by immediately going into the position of a boxer.  When Lennie does not answer his questions, and George does, Curley, too, becomes suspicious,ordering Lennie to answer him,

" Well, nex' time you answer when you're spoke to."  He turned toward the door and walked out, and his elbows were still bent out a little.

After he leaves, Candy explains that Curley is

"pretty handy....Never did seem right to me  S'pose Curley jumps a big guy an' licks him.  Ever'body says what a game guy Curley is.  And, s'pose he does the same thing and gets licked.  Then ever'body says the big guy oughtta pick somebody his own size, and maybe they gang up on the big guy.....Seems like Curley ain't givin' nobody a chance.....Seems like Curley is cockier'n ever since he got married."

Candy's sense of fair play is upset by Curley, who is essentially a bully. Now that he has a pretty wife, he is even more smug.  When Candy tells George and Lennie that Curley keeps one hand soft for his wife by putting vaseline in a glove, George says, "That's a dirty thing to tell around," and

The old man was reassured.  He had drawn a derogatory statement from George.  He felt safe, now.

Candy feels better after he has drawn remarks from George because now he has something that he can use against him.   George tells Lennie that if Curley tangles with him they will get fired.  "...try to keep away from him..." He tells Lennie to hide in the brush if anything happens.  Soon a girl appears,

She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame....She smiled archly and twitched her body.

Just then Slim, the mule skinner appears in the doorway, too.

....he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen....There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke...His hear heard more than was said....his voice gentle.

Slim is very perceptive. Noting that Lennie and George work together, he remarks that most men are by themselves: "Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other." 

I would say that one of the most meaningful quotes in the chapter happens in its exposition.  Steinbeck goes through painstaking detail to make sure that the bunkhouse is described in a manner that reflects how the migrant worker lives.  The transience of such a setting is what is conveyed through his description in the opening of the chapter.  Concluding this would be when Candy describes why the previous worker who occupied the same bed that George and Lennie will occupy ended up leaving:

Why . . . . he . . . . just quit, the way a guy will.
Says it was the food. Just wanted to move. Didn’t give no other reason but the food. Just says ‘gimme my time’ one night, the way any guy would.

The reality of people leaving, just quitting "the way a guy will" is significant and memorable because it shows how little connection is present in the world in which George and Lennie work.  It also makes their connection that much more meaningful in its own right. 

Finally, I would have to say that Lennie's fear of Curley is meaningful because it foreshadows both the fundamental conflict and climax in the narrative as well as Lennie's own fear and dependence on George.  Lennie's vulnerability and likability are on display in this chapter:  “I don’t want no trouble...Don’t let him sock me, George.”  In this sentiment and quote, Lennie's characterization becomes memorable.

Set in one of the most desperate of times, John Steinbeck's Of Mice andMen depicts the disenfranchisement and alienation of the itinerant workers who find themselves in the most basic of struggles to retain their human dignity.  In order to find some meaning in their lives, these lonely men gather to themselves whatever they can: dogs, books, alarm clocks, guns, and dreams. These are the talismans of hope for the "bindle stiffs" who find themselves homeless and alone.

For George and Lennie--and, later, Candy and even Crooks--the dream of ownership provides a raison d'etre that gives their lives hope. Even the recitation of this dream encourages the men to continue working and struggling against their economic and social conditions.  For instance, after reaching the clearing in Chapter One, Lennie asks George to recite their dream of owning a farm and raising rabbits:

"...we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof..."

With this dream also comes another concept that affords hope, the friendship and fraternity of men. In Chapter One, George expresses the hope that friendship provides,

"We got a future.  We don't have to sit in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go.  If them other guys gets in jail they can rot all anybody give a damn. But not us." 

And, after George's reflection, Lennie finds solace in the knowledge that he has George as his friend,

"....because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why."

Moreover, when Candy learns of the future plans of George and Lennie, he perceives this ownership of a little farm as hope for a life when he is no longer useful on the ranch; with George and Lennie, he can belong somewhere and not be cast away much like his old dog.

"S'pose I went in with you guys.  Tha's three hundered an' fifty bucks I'd put in.  I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How'd that be?"

Likewise, Crooks finds a glimmer of hope in the dream of the little farm as he contemplates,

"...If you...guys would want a hand to work for nothing--just his keep, why I'd come an' lend a hand. I ain't so crippled I can't work like a son-of-a-b---- if I want to."

Clearly, the dream of ownership and fraternity are what provide the disenfranchised and alienated "bindle stiffs" hope in Steinbeck's novella. 

When George narrates a vision of the future to Lennie and Candy, it represents how the theme of hope and dreams can be seen in Of Mice and Men.

In Chapter 3, Lennie asks George to narrate what their future might be like. It is clear that the life of moving from ranch to ranch and bucking bags of barley is taking a toll on both of them.  While George has repeatedly told Lennie of the future, this particular vision possesses greater depth: 

Sure, we’d have a little house an’ a room to ourself. Little fat iron stove, an’ in the winter we’d keep a fire goin’ in it. It ain’t enough land so we’d have to work too hard. Maybe six, seven hours a day. We wouldn’t have to buck no barley eleven hours a day. An’ when we put in a crop, why, we’d be there to take the crop up. We’d know what come of our planting.

Making direct references to the potential excitement of no longer having to "buck barley" and that "We'd know what come of our planting" show the theme of hope and dreams for the future. This is enhanced when George further describes a world where the life they lead would "be our own, an’ nobody could can us."  When Candy offers his financial help,  George represents the theme of hope and dreams:  “Jesus Christ! I bet we could swing her.” His eyes were full of wonder. “I bet we could swing her..."  The idea of "we could swing her" shows the zenith of hope and dreams in Of Mice and Men.  All three men believe in the authenticity of a future so very different from past and present.

The term significant quotations applies to passages and dialogues that reveal character traits or pertain to theme or are pivotal to the plot of a narrative.

In John Steinbeck' novella, the theme of man's alienation as a result of the Great Depression is prevalent throughout the narrative.  One significant passage is the recitation of the dream that Lennie asks George to repeat.  This can first be found in Chapter 1, but it is repeated throughout the book

.  (Since pages vary depending upon the publication, it is nearly impossible to provide the correct page.)

Prior to this recitation of the dream which brings comfort to the men, George explains to Lennie the value of their friendship:

"With us it ain't like that.  We got a future.  We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.  We don't have to sit in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go.  If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn.  But not us."

Lennie broke in.  "But not us!  An' why?Because...because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why."  He laughed delightedly.  "Go on now, George." [Ch.1]

A tall man stood in the doorway....Like the others he wore blue jeans and a short denim jacket.  When he had finished combing his hair, he moved into the room, and he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen.....There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when spoke.  His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love.  This was Slim, the jerkline skinner....His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones no of thought, but of understanding beyond thought.  His hands, large and lean, were as delicate in their actions as those of a temple dancer.  [Ch. 2]

Slim looked through George and beyond him. "Ain't many guys travel around together," he mused.  "I don't know why.  Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other." [Ch.2]

George looked over at Slim and saw the calm, God-like eyes fastened on him...."He's [Lennie] a nice fella," said Slim.  "Guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella.  Seems to me sometimes it jus' workds the other way around.  Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella." [Ch.3]

"I ain't got no people," George said.  "I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone.  That ain't no good.  They don't have no fun.  After a long time they get mean.  They get wantin' to fight all the time." [Ch.3]

Later in this chapter, Carlson wants to take Candy's old dog outside and put him down.  Candy cannot bear to part from his old friend, and is desolated by the final judgment:

Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal.  And Slim gave him none.  At last Candy said softly and hopelessly, "Awright--take 'im.""  He did not look down at the dog at all.  He lay back on his bunk and crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling. [Ch. 3]

In the world of men, Curley's wife is the Eve, the temptress who disrupts any change of fraternity:

George said, "She's gonna make a mess.  They's gonna be a bad mess about her.  She's a jail bait all set on the trigger.  That Curley got his work cut out for him.  Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain't no place for a girl, specially like her. [Ch.3]

Continuing the theme of fraternity, Crooks says,

"A guy needs somebody--to be near him....A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.  Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you.  I tell ya," he cried, "I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick." [ch.4]

After shooting Lennie, George is told by Slim,

..."You hadda, George.  I swear you hadda.  Come on with me."...

Curley and Carlson looked after them.  And Carlson said,  "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them to guys?"  [Ch. 5]

Steinbeck's description of the Salinas Valley to open and close the novel might be considered a memorable quote.   If nothing else, it represents how much detail and technical skill that Steinbeck demonstrates in his construction of the setting of the novel.  Another memorable quote would have to be George's speech to Lennie about how "Guys like us" are different from others. In this would be Lennie's "living offa the fatta lan'" as showing how strong the bond between both men are.  It represents how both of them demonstrate solidarity in a world that is devoid of it. Slim's statement about how this is lacking is also memorable:

“Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”

Along these lines would be Lennie's variations on the basic quote of "tending the rabbits."  This is significant and memorable because it is constant throughout the novel, helping to provide a sense of cadence and structure through it despite the changes that take place throughout it.  Candy's statement of desperation and loneliness is also significant.  When he remarks that he "should have shot him myself," as a statement about what he should have done regarding the treatment of his dog, it serves as a reminder of how much companionship and love is needed, more so in a setting absent of it.  Carlson's closing quote might be memorable because it is a statement about how rare the friendship experienced in the world actually is:

Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?

Such a line becomes a statement on how most of the world struggles to understand the pain and difficulty that exists when people care for one another and love one another.

In Chapter One, George explains why he and Lennie aren't like the other itinerant ranch hands who have no future. 

With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don't have to sit in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go. 

George then describes the farm they hope to have some day. This section shows two themes: friendship and the elusive American dream. 

George constantly warns Lennie what not to do but there are times when Lennie feels pressured in social situations. The swamper tells George that Curley is always looking for a fight, foreshadowing what is to come. "Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys." 

In Chapter 3, Candy tells George, "I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn't ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog." This is significant because of what George feels forced to do at the end of Chapter 6. 

In Chapter 4, Crooks asks to come work on Lennie's and George's farm if it should ever manifest. 

He hesitated. ". . . If you . . . guys would want a hand to work for nothing--just his keep, why I'd come an' lend a hand. 

After being scolded by Curley's wife however, Crooks tells Candy to forget that he offered. Like Lennie, Crooks is a social outcast and this is a moment when he gets his hopes up but then, discouraged, he once again accepts that he is the outcast. 

The crucial moment in Chapter 5 is when Curley's wife invites Lennie to feel her hair. As he'd done with the puppy, he couldn't control his emotions or his own strength.

"Don't go yellin'," he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck. 

The most dramatic moment in Chapter 6 is when George brings himself to do to Lennie what Candy could not do to his dog. Slim is wise enough to realize that George had to kill Lennie and Slim is George's only source of consolation. Then, symbolically, Slim leads George away from the Salinas River, George's and Lennie's safe haven and the place where the story began. 

Slim said, "You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me." He led George into the entrance of the trail and up toward the highway. 

The most important quote in my opinion is when George and Lennie speak of their friendship.  In the world of migrant workers, there are no friendship and no true community.  George makes this comment clearly, and more importantly he says that he and Lennie are different.  They are different, because they have each other.  Here is the quote:

Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. . . . With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.

Slim, one the most observant people in the book, sees this aspect about George and Lennie.  He says:

“Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don’t know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”

Other characters also see this point about George and Lennie, and they appreciate it.  Also George and Lennie, on account of their friendship, have a dream to own land.  I don't think they would be able to dream like this, unless they had each other. 

Finally, at the end of the story, when George takes Lennie's life, he acts as a friend.  George gave his best friend a "good death," in view of what would happen to him if the men found him first.