Jack Kerouac Quotes

To be great is to be misunderstood.

Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.

I always try to be a trend setter. That's what I always tell young people when I'm giving them advice. To go with their heart and don't follow the trends.

I'm so proud to be on a Kate Bush record; she's always marched to the beat of her own drum.

I'm inspired by anyone who's honest in their own expression, people who truly beat to the rhythm of their own drum.

The most daring thing is to be yourself and to do exactly what you want to do at that point in time and not to be worried with what other people are doing or what's popular.

I find that the very things that I get criticized for, which is usually being different and just doing my own thing and just being original, is the very thing that's making me successful.

I never follow anybody's path, what they've done.

Living courageously in your uniqueness is really important: just being completely yourself. I know that sounds really cliche, but just do what you want to do.

I don't want to follow in the footsteps of anybody that went before, because they didn't do what I want to do.

I don't like following in people's footsteps; I like making my own trail.

To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great.

Originality is independence, not rebellion; it is sincerity, not antagonism.

I always took a great deal of pride in being original.

To the extent that independent means you're willing to attempt to put your own ideas, personality, and commitment to the material on screen, then of course I hope I'm independent until the day I die.

No man was ever great by imitation.

People relate to the spirit of the band, which is to live your way and succeed on your own terms. There's no hypocrisy in being successful and still railing against conformity.

To refrain from imitation is the best revenge.

Forget about trying to compete with someone else. Create your own pathway. Create your own new vision.

There was no one near to confuse me, so I was forced to become original.

I'm very big on doing my own thing.

No, because I don't want to hear what's hot and feel I have to copy it. I'll just make up my own thing.

I admire anyone that follows the road less travelled.

I think the greatest of people that have ever been in society, they were never versions of someone else. They were themselves.

Work out of your work. Don't work out of anybody else's work.