Quotes from Jack Kerouac

Way far back in the beginning of the world was the whirlwind warning that we could all be blown away like chips and cry- Men with tired eyes realize it now, and wait to deform and decay- with maybe they have the power of love yet in their hearts just the same, I just don't know what that word means anymore- All I want is an ice cream cone

I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion

The road must eventually lead to the whole world. Ain't nowhere else it can go - right?

We were all delighted, we all realized we were leaving confusion and nonsense behind and performing our one and noble function of the time, move.

Yet this book is to prove that no matter how you travel, how 'successful' your tour, or foreshortened, you always learn something and learn to change your thoughts.

I suddenly realized I was in California. Warm, palmy air - air you can kiss - and palms.

And a bird who was on a crooked branch is suddenly gone without my even hearing him.

And this is not the happiness of a magazine writer who sends in his gay little philosophy of life to the editor for the one paragraph spread in front of the magazine: This is a serious happiness full of doubts and strengths. I wonder if happiness is possible. It is a state of mind, but I'd hate to be a bore all my life, if only because of those I love around me. Happiness can change into unhappiness just for the sake of change.

You are the equal of the idol who has given you your inspiration

I bless you, all living things, I bless you in the endless past, I bless you in the endless present, I bless you in the endless future, amen.

I wished I could explain it to those I loved, my mother, to Japhy, but there just weren't any words to describe the nothingness and purity of it. Is there a certain and definite teaching to be given to all living creatures? was the question probably asked to beetle browed snowy Dipankara, and his answer was the roaring silence of the diamond.

Dammit, that yodel of triumph of yours was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my life. I wish I had a tape recorder to take it down. Those things aren't made to be heard by the people down below, says Japhy, dead serious.