Jack Kerouac Quotes

Martin in particular concluded that man was born to live either in the convulsions of misery, or in the lethargy of boredom.

You see, Mademoiselle, I have experience, I know the world. To pass the time, why don't you ask every passenger to tell you his life's story? And if there is a single one among them who has never cursed his life, who has not often told himself that he was the unhappiest of men, then you may throw me overboard, headfirst!

I'm attracted to pathos, because life is mostly pathos. I've had a lot of it in my life.

Existential philosophy, poetry and art - just like sadness - were all unavoidable to a tender young man in the meat works.

I saw that philosophy had no power to make my life more bearable. Thus I lost my belief in philosophy.

Why was I feeling this way? Why was everything so bad in my life? I had no answers to these questions.

Most of life is sad.

Man pines to live but cannot endure the days of his life.

Men die and they are not happy.

Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.

I think life's an irrational obsession.

This life of being a transient human being has gotten to a point when it's very hard to bear.

One must either take an interest in the human situation or else parade before the void.

I had never felt so lonely and so sad in my entire life.

I have been back in Paris for two weeks. Nothing new. Life is still bitter.

Hell is other people.

What has changed is that nothing has changed... that's what has made me more unhappy than everything else.

I wanted to understand pain and the human condition, which is full of pain and regret and sadness - and some happiness, if you're lucky.

Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life.

Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.

How does one get bored of life?

The road is a lonely place, and that sounds like a cliche, you know, like what is my life?

I always said all my life if I wasn't born and they gave me the question I'd say I don't want to be born.

Any art worthy of its name should address 'life', 'man', 'nature', 'death' and 'tragedy'.