30 Moving Quotes by Jack Kerouac

Soon I’ll find the right words, they’ll be very simple…Some of the Dharma (1953–1956), (Viking, ed. 1997), Book Six, Page 280

You can’t teach the old maestro a new tune.On the Road (1957), Part I, Chapter 11, Page 60

All our best men are laughed at in this nightmare land.Pomes All Sizes (City Lights Books, ed. 1992), Running Through-Chinese Poem Song, Page 158

My witness is the empty sky.Some of the Dharma (1953–1956), (Viking, ed. 1997), Book Four, Page 221

The happiness consists in realizing that it is all a great strange dream.Lonesome Traveler (1960), (Grove Press, ed. 1989), Essay 2. Mexico Fellaheen, Page 36

The only truth is music.Desolation Angels (1965), (Perigee Book, ed. 1978), Chapter 74, Page 119

Mankind is like dogs, not gods – as long as you don’t get mad they’ll bite you – but stay mad and you’ll never be bitten. Dogs don’t respect humility and sorrow.Some of the Dharma (1953–1956), (Viking, ed. 1997), Book Four, Page 165

Better to sleep in an uncomfortable bed free, than sleep in a comfortable bed unfree.The Dharma Bums (1958), (Deutsch, ed. 1973), Chapter 17, Page 123

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.On the Road (1957), Part I, Chapter 1, Page 9

As early pioneers in the knowing, that when you lose your reason, you attain highest perfect knowing.Book of Blues (1954-1961), (Penguin, ed. 1995), 55th Chorus, Page 183

One man practicing kindness in the wilderness is worth all the temples this world pulls.The Dharma Bums (1958), (Deutsch, ed. 1973), Chapter 19, Page 134

Man lowers his head and lunges into civilization, forgetting the days of his infancy when he sought truth in a snowflake or a stick. Man forgets the wisdom of the child.Atop an Underwood: Early Stories and Other Writings (1936–1943), (Viking, ed. 1999), Part II, Story 3. God, Page 78

While looking for the light, you may suddenly be devoured by the darkness and find the true light.The Scripture of the Golden Eternity (1960), (City Lights, ed. 1994), Poem 22, Page 32

Don’t tell them too much about your soul. They’re waiting for just that.Windblown World: The Journals of Jack Kerouac (1947-1954), (Viking, ed. 2004), Page 31

Sociability is just a big smile and a big smile is nothing but teeth.The Dharma Bums (1958), (Deutsch, ed. 1973), Chapter 28, page 192

The page is long, blank, and full of truth. When I am through with it, it shall probably be long, full, and empty with words.Atop an Underwood: Early Stories and Other Writings (1936–1943), (Viking, ed. 1999), Part II, Story 3. God, Page 72

Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.Desolation Angels (1965), (Perigee Book, ed. 1978), Chapter 2, Page 5

Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.On the Road: The Original Scroll (Viking, ed. 2007), Page 183

There was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the stars.On the Road (1957), Part I, Chapter 4, Page 25

Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.On the Road (1957), Part III, Chapter 5, Page 175

No matter how you travel, how ‘successful’ your tour, or foreshortened, you always learn something and learn to change your thoughts.Satori in Paris (1966), (Quartet Books, ed. 1973), Chapter 14, Page 36

Maybe that’s what life is, a wink of the eye, and winking stars…Letter to Alan Harrington (April 23, 1949)

Believe in the holy contour of life.Belief and Technique for Modern Prose, published in Evergreen Review (1959)

All of life is a foreign country.Letter to John Clellon Holmes (June 24, 1949)

Be in love with your life, every detail of it.Belief and Technique for Modern Prose, published in Evergreen Review (1959)

Life must be rich and full of loving – it’s no good otherwise, no good at all, for anyone.Letter to Neal Cassady (August 26, 1947)

Life is a gate, a way, a path to Paradise anyway, why not live for fun and joy and love or some sort of girl by a fireside, why not go to your desire and LAUGH… Big Sur (1962), (New English Library, ed. 1966), Chapter 9, Page 33

Avoid the world, it’s just a lot of dust and drag and means nothing in the end.Desolation Angels (1965), (Perigee Book, ed. 1978), Chapter 50, Page 300

What a horror it would have been if the world was real, because if the world was real, it would be immortal.The Dharma Bums (1958), (Deutsch, ed. 1973), Chapter 19, Page 134

I realized either I was crazy or the world was crazy; and I picked on the world. And of course I was right.Vanity of Duluoz (1968), (Putnam, ed. 1978), Book V, Part I, Page 89

Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.Charles Kuralt (More info)

The best teacher is experience and not through someone’s distorted point of view.Often attributed to Kerouac's On the Road. (More info)

Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.Esquire (More info)