According to George, is Lennie dangerous? Explain your answer with a quote from the book.

understands
thatdoesn't mean to hurt anybody and doesn't have a mean bone in his body, but he also
understands that Lennie is dangerous. Lennie is large and very strong, and, because of his
mental disability, he doesn't know his own strength. He also doesn't know when to stop, so he
can kill an animal or a person before he realizes what he has done.

Because
George knows all of this about Lennie, he is fearful about Curley, a physically small man who
likes to prove himself by picking fights. George shows he recognizes the danger Lennie
represents when he says the following:

But this Curley
better not make no mistakes about Lennie. Lennie aint handy, but this Curley punk is gonna get
hurt if he messes around with Lennie.

George also appeals
directly to Lennie, urging him to stay away from Curley. George says to Lennie:

Look, Lennie. You try to keep away from him, will you? Dont never
speak to him. If he comes in here you move clear to the other side of the room.

George's advice to Lennie to have no contact at all with Curley
arises out of his fear of what Lennie might do if he does get into a tangle with the smaller
man. Lennie is an asset in that he can work very hard on the ranch, but this same strength is
precisely what makes him a problem. Therefore, George has to think ahead and anticipate that
Lennie will get into trouble. This is why he tells him exactly where to go and hide in case an
unpleasant situation arises.

As it happens, Lennie does prove a danger to
Curley's wife because he doesn't know he has hurt her until it is too late and she is
dead.