Jack Kerouac Quotes from On The Road and other works

This collection of the best Jack Kerouac Quotes from On The Road and other works brings together thoughts on life, love, passion and travel.

Jack Kerouac

As a pioneer of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac is perhaps best known for his most famous work ‘On The Road'. It was by no means his only literary contribution though, and other notable works include The Dharma Bums, Big Sur, and Lonesome Traveler.

Born in 1922, he died at the age of just 47 in 1969, but not before he had left his mark on American and Western culture.

His recurring themes of the desire for adventure and freedom, friendship and romantic relationships, are still inspiring to this day. They've also been a source of travel quotes that resonate with the soul.

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

This collection of quotes by Jack Kerouac brings together his best phrases and sayings, and pairs them with inspiring imagery. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did in the creation of this compilation.

Jack Kerouac Quotes

“So shut up, live, travel, adventure, bless and don't be sorry”

– Jack Kerouac Quote from Desolation Angels.

My whole wretched life swam before my weary eyes, and I realized no matter what you do it's bound to be a waste of time in the end so you might as well go mad

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.”

– From On The Road by Jack Kerouac

“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”

– On The Road Quote

“The only truth is music.”

– Jack Kerouac Famous Quote

“My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them.”

– Quote by Jack Kerouac

“The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream.”

– On The Road quote

Related: Camping Quotes Short

“The best teacher is experience and not through someone's distorted point of view”

– Quote from On The Road by Kerouac

“Happiness consists in realizing it is all a great strange dream”

So therefore I dedicate myself, to my art, my sleep, my dreams, my labors, my suffrances, my loneliness, my unique madness, my endless absorption and hunger because I cannot dedicate myself to any fellow being.

“I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility.”

– Quote from On The Road

“Don't use the phone. People are never ready to answer it. Use poetry.”

– Jack Kerouac Poetry Quote

“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 and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!'”

Quotes by Kerouac

This next section of Jack Kerouac quotes will help you get on the road, and start your next life-defining adventure.

“I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference.”

“Will you love me in December as you do in May?”

– Attributed to Jack Kerouac, but originated elsewhere

Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you’re already in heaven now

“It all ends in tears anyway.”

– Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

“I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.”

– On The Road

“My witness is the empty sky.”

– Quote from Some of the Dharma by J. Kerouac

“What's in store for me in the direction I don't take?”

“Beautiful insane in the rain”

– Jack Kerouac, The Subterraneans

“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

“It always makes me proud to love the world somehow- hate's so easy compared.”

– Big Sur

“I'm going to marry my novels and have little short stories for children.”

“What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”

Related: Escapade Quotes

Jack Kerouac Quote Collection

We continue our list of the best quotes and sayings by Jack Kerouac with some wisdom we should all keep in mind.

“Life must be rich and full of loving – it's no good otherwise, no good at all, for anyone.”

“I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted.”

“Houses are full of things that gather dust”

“One man practicing kindness in the wilderness is worth all the temples this world pulls.”

– The Dharma Bums

“And the story of love is a long sad tale ending in graves.”

“Finding Nirvana is like locating silence.”

– The Dharma Bums

“I'm writing this book because we're all going to die.”

“I was far away from home, haunted & tired with travel, in a room I'd never seen, hearing the hiss of steam outside, the creak of the old wood, footsteps upstairs & all the sad sounds. I looked at the cracked high ceiling & really didn't know who I was for about 15 strange seconds. I wasn't scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger & my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost. I was halfway at the dividing line between the East of my youth & the West of my future.”

“Pain or love or danger makes you real again….”

– The Dharma Bums

“As I grew older I became a drunk. Why? Because I like ecstasy of the mind.”

“My aunt once said that the world would never find peace until men fell at their women's feet and asked for forgiveness. ”

– Jack Kerouac

“Hearing the hiss of steam outside, and the creak of the old wood of the hotel, and footsteps upstairs, and all the sad sounds, and I looked at the cracked high ceiling and really didn't know who I was for about fifteen strange seconds.”

Quotes and Saying by Jack Kerouac

Here's some more beautiful quotes and quips associated with Jack Kerouac and his literary works.

“Something good will come of all things yet”

“We turned at a dozen paces, for love is a duel, and looked at each other for the last time.”

“This is the story of America. Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do.”

– ‘On The Road' Quote

“I feel guilty for being a member of the human race.”

– Big Sur

“Don't touch me, I'm full of snakes.”

“We agreed to love each other madly.”

“Offer them what they secretly want and they of course immediately become panic-stricken.”

“A sociable smile is nothing but a mouth full of teeth”

“It is all one vast awakened thing. I call it the golden eternity. It is perfect.”

“Things are so hard to figure out when you live from day to day in this feverish and silly world. ”

– On The Road

“Maybe that's what life is… a wink of the eye and winking stars. ”

“I have lots of things to teach you now, in case we ever meet, concerning the message that was transmitted to me under a pine tree in North Carolina on a cold winter moonlit night.”

Jack Kerouac Travel, Love and Life Quotes

This is our final selection of beautiful words from Jack Kerouac guaranteed to unleash the traveler within you. Continue down to the bottom of the page to find more of our great inspiring and motivational quote collections!

“I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another til I drop.”

“The closer you get to real matter, rock air fire and wood, boy, the more spiritual the world is.”

– The Dharma Bums

“I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future.”

– On The Road

“I just won't sleep,” I decided. There were so many other interesting things to do.”

– On The Road

“If moderation is a fault, then indifference is a crime.”

Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together; sophistication demands that they submit to sex immediately without proper preliminary talk. Not courting talk — real straight talk about souls, for life is holy and every moment is precious.

“All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together.”

“Forgive everyone for your own sins and be sure to tell them you love them which you do.”

The best Jack Kerouac Quotes from On The Road and other works is a collection of thoughts on life, love, passion and travel. This blog post concludes with the following quote: “The only people for me are the mad ones” (On The Road).

These moments in which we feel most alive come when we step outside of our comfort zone and do something new or different. It may not be easy to take these risks but they will lead you down paths that you never thought possible if you let them.

Be open-minded about your options and always keep moving forward because there really isn't anything more important than enjoying this crazy journey called life!

Adventure and Travel Quotes

Have these sayings, quips, and quotes by Jack Kerouac inspired you to add more adventure to your life? Take it a notch higher with these other quotation collections:

Dave Briggs: Author and travel blogger at Dave’s Travel Pages

– Article Author: Dave Briggs
Dave Briggs is an author and writer who started blogging at Dave's Travel Pages way back in 2005. He first started traveling in the 1990's, and loves reading biographies and quotes as inspiration for his own journeys. Follow Dave on social media for travel tips and insights: