They put spotlights on me standing there in the road in jeans and workclothes, with the big woeful rucksack a-back, and asked:-"Where are you going?" which is precisely what they asked me a year later under Television floodlights in New York, "Where are you going?"-Just as you cant explain to the police, you cant explain to society "Looking for peace.
Jack Kerouac
Journey, Peace, Society, Self-discovery, Societal Expectations
Jack Kerouac’s Quotes On Topics
Narrative | Pivotal Moments | Nature Observation | Risk-taking | Human Connection | Cultural Shift | Social Responsibility | Social Categories | Personal Faith | Action | Self-realization | Senses | Money Management | Truth | Anticipation | Ability | Explanation | Spiritual Search | Order | Philosophical Questions | More
More Jack Kerouac Quotes
“What a horror it would have been if the world was real, because if the world was real, it would be immortal.” Jack Kerouac
Reality, Mortality, Philosophical Musing, Existence, Impermanence
Jack Kerouac Reality, Mortality, Philosophical Musing, Existence, Impermanence“The closer you get to real matter, rock, air, fire and wood, boy, the more spiritual the world is.” Jack Kerouac
Spirituality, Nature, Elements, Materiality, Paradox
Jack Kerouac Spirituality, Nature, Elements, Materiality, Paradox“Ah, 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.” Jack Kerouac
Life Philosophy, Joy, Love, Desire, Laughter
Jack Kerouac Life Philosophy, Joy, Love, Desire, Laughter“Symbolism is alright in 'fiction,' but I tell true life stories simply about what happened to people I knew.” Jack Kerouac
Realism, Storytelling, Truth, Personal Experiences, Literary Style
Jack Kerouac Realism, Storytelling, Truth, Personal Experiences, Literary Style“It always makes me proud to love the world somehow- hate's so easy compared.” Jack Kerouac
Love, Pride, World Appreciation, Difficulty, Emotional Choice
Jack Kerouac Love, Pride, World Appreciation, Difficulty, Emotional Choice“I didn't know what to say. I felt like crying, Goddammit everybody in the world wants an explanation for your acts and for your very being.” Jack Kerouac
Existence, Explanation, Humanity, Frustration, Identity
Jack Kerouac Existence, Explanation, Humanity, Frustration, Identity“Let us sleep by rivers and purify our ears.” Jack Kerouac
Nature, Purification, Sleep, Senses, Harmony
Jack Kerouac Nature, Purification, Sleep, Senses, Harmony“Life is not an apology.” Jack Kerouac
Unapologetic Living, Self-assertion, Life Philosophy, Confidence, Existential Statement
Jack Kerouac Unapologetic Living, Self-assertion, Life Philosophy, Confidence, Existential Statement“We fumed and screamed in our mountain nook, mad drunken Americans in the mighty land. We were on the roof of America and all we could do was yell, I guess – across the night...” Jack Kerouac
American Spirit, Wilderness, Exuberance, Drunkenness, Primal Expression
Jack Kerouac American Spirit, Wilderness, Exuberance, Drunkenness, Primal Expression“This world is the movie of what everything is, it is one movie, made of the same stuff throughout, belonging to nobody, which is what everything is.” Jack Kerouac
World, Reality, Movie, Existence, Philosophy
Jack Kerouac World, Reality, Movie, Existence, Philosophy“Mind is the Maker, for no reason at all, for all this creation, created to fall.” Jack Kerouac
Mind, Creation, Philosophy, Existence, Reflection
Jack Kerouac Mind, Creation, Philosophy, Existence, Reflection“One afternoon as I just gazed at the topmost branches of those immensely tall trees I began to notice that the uppermost twigs and leaves were lyrical happy dancers glad that they had been apportioned the top, with all that rumbling experience of the whole tree swaying beneath them making their dance, their every jiggle, a huge and communal and mysterious necessity dance, and so just floating up there in the void dancing the meaning of the tree.” Jack Kerouac
Nature Observation, Interconnectedness, Joy, Dance Metaphor, Tree Symbolism
Jack Kerouac Nature Observation, Interconnectedness, Joy, Dance Metaphor, Tree Symbolism“I felt free and therefore I was free.” Jack Kerouac
Freedom, Feeling, Reality, Self-perception, Autonomy
Jack Kerouac Freedom, Feeling, Reality, Self-perception, Autonomy“Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you're already in heaven now.” Jack Kerouac
Kindness, Heaven, Practice, Realization, Present Moment
Jack Kerouac Kindness, Heaven, Practice, Realization, Present Moment“I'm going to write ceaselessly about the dignity of human beings no matter who and or what they are, and the less dignity a person has the fewer words I'll use.” Jack Kerouac
Dignity, Writing, Humanity, Brevity, Human Value
Jack Kerouac Dignity, Writing, Humanity, Brevity, Human Value“The taste of rain – Why kneel?” Jack Kerouac
Nature Appreciation, Spirituality, Simplicity, Questioning, Sensory Experience
Jack Kerouac Nature Appreciation, Spirituality, Simplicity, Questioning, Sensory Experience“This was really the way my whole road experience began, and the things that were to come are too fantastic not to tell.” Jack Kerouac
Experience, Journey, Storytelling, Life, Adventure
Jack Kerouac Experience, Journey, Storytelling, Life, Adventure“I realize all the uncountable manifestations the thinking-mind invents to place wall of horror before its pure perfect realization that there is no wall and no horror just Transcendental Empty Kissable Milk Light of Everlasting Eternity’s true and perfectly empty nature.” Jack Kerouac
Mind, Reality, Philosophy, Understanding, Transcendence
Jack Kerouac Mind, Reality, Philosophy, Understanding, Transcendence