Jack Kerouac, one of Beat writing’s founding fathers, would have been 93 today. The author, born in Massachusetts in 1922, inspired millions with his spur-of-the-moment prose and autobiographic tales of travel, Jazz, spirituality and camaraderie through his two most beloved works, On the Road and The Dharma Bums.
In celebration of Kerouac’s birthday, we’ve collected 15 of our favorite quotes. Share your own favorites quotes in the comments section below.
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"Be in love with yr life."—Belief and Technique for Modern Prose
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"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
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"Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road."—On the Road
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"It's hard to explain and best thing to do is not be false."—Big Sur
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"One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple."—The Dharma Bums
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"One man practicing kindness in the wilderness is worth all the temples this world pulls." — The Dharma Bums
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"No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength. Learning for instance, to eat when he's hungry and sleep when he's sleepy." — Lonesome Traveler
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"The only truth is music."
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"A pain stabbed my heart as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world."—On the Road
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"Our battered suitcases were were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life."—On the Road