Literary Birthday – 12 March – Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac was born 12 March 1922, and died 21 October 1969.

Quotes

1. One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
2. Thinking of the stars night after night I begin to realise ‘The stars are words’ and all the innumerable worlds in the Milky Way are words, and so is this world too. And I realise that no matter where I am, whether in a little room full of thought, or in this endless universe of stars and mountains, it’s all in my mind.
3. I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted.
4. Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.
5. Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.
6. 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.
7. Put down the pen someone else gave you. No one ever drafted a life worth living on borrowed ink.
8. The only truth is music.
9. Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.

Must Read: Kerouac’s 30 Rules for Writing

Jack Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary icon, and a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac died at 47 from internal bleeding due to long-standing abuse of alcohol. Since his death Kerouac’s literary prestige has grown. All of his books are in print today, among them: On the Road, The Dharma Bums, and Big Sur.

Source for Image: Kerouac_by_Palumbo.jpg: Tom Palumbo from New York, NY, USA derivative work: Sir Richardson at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kerouac_by_Palumbo_2_(cropped).png
Source for Tips

by Amanda Patterson

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