Living is the purpose of life, Ken Kesey More Quotes by Ken Kesey More Quotes From Ken Kesey Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. He knows there's a painful side; he knows my thumb smarts and his girlfriend has a bruised breast and the doctor is losing his glasses, but he won't let the pain blot out the humor no more'n he'll let the humor blot out the pain. Ken Kesey girlfriendhurtrunning If you don't watch it people will force you one way or the other, into doing what they think you should do, or into just being mule-stubborn and doing the opposite out of spite. Ken Kesey oppositespeoplethinking We'd just shared the last beer and slung the empty can out the window at a stop sign and were just waiting back to get the feel of the day, swimming in that kind of tasty drowsiness that comes over you after a day of going hard at something you enjoy doing -- half sunburned and half drunk and keeping awake only because you wanted to savor the taste as long as you could. Ken Kesey swimmingbeerlong No, that nurse ain't some kinda monster chicken, buddy, what she is is a ball-cutter. I've seen a thousand of 'em, old and young, men and women. Seen 'em all over the country and in the homes- people who try to make you weak so they can get you to toe the line, to follow their rules, to live like they want you to. And the best way to do this, to get you to knuckle under, is to weaken you by gettin' you where it hurts the worst. Ken Kesey hurthomecountry The Grateful Dead are faster than light drive. Ken Kesey gratefulfasterlight This world belongs to the strong, my friend! The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak. We must face up to this. No more than right that it should be this way. We must learn to accept it as a law of the natural world. The rabbits accept their role in the ritual and recognize the wolf as the strong. In defense, the rabbit becomes sly and frightened and elusive and he digs holes and hides when the wolf is about. And he endures, he goes on. He knows his place. He most certainly doesn't challenge the wolf to combat. Now, would that be wise? Would it? Ken Kesey strongwiselaw The stars up close to the moon were pale; they got brighter and braver the farther they got out of the circle of light ruled by the giant moon Ken Kesey starslightmoon Memory whispers someplace in that jumbled machinery. Ken Kesey machinerymemories He knows that you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. Ken Kesey hurtrunninglife There's something about taking a plow and breaking new ground. It gives you energy. Ken Kesey breaking-promisesenergygiving Mr. Bibbit, you might warn this Mr. Harding that I'm so crazy I admit to voting for Eisenhower. Bibbit! You tell Mr. McMurphy I'm so crazy I voted for Eisenhower twice! And you tell Mr. Harding right back — he puts both hands on the table and leans down, his voice getting low — that I'm so crazy I plan to vote for Eisenhower again this November. Ken Kesey mcmurphycrazyhands The fundamentalists have taken the fun out of the mental. Ken Kesey having-funtakenfun All that five thousand kids lived in those five thousand houses, owned by guys that got off the train. The houses looked so much alike that, time and time again, the kids went home by mistake to different houses and different families. Nobody ever noticed. Ken Kesey mistakehomekids The truth doesn't have to do with cruelty, the truth has to do with mercy. Ken Kesey crueltymercyliterature The Haight is just a place; the '60s was a spirit. Ken Kesey literaturespirit The best of all possible cages.' Ben stepped back to regard the job with a sad smile. 'What more can one ask? Ken Kesey cagesregardjobs I'd take a look at my own self in the mirror and wonder how it was possible that anybody could manage such an enormous thing as being what he was. Ken Kesey mirrorsselflooks There's shames a man can never reason away, though he looks back and piles up reasons over them forty dozen deep. And maybe those are the shames a man never should reason away. Ken Kesey dozenmenlooks Then - as he was talking - a set of tail-lights going past lit up McMurphy's face, and the windshield reflected an expression that was allowed only because he figured it'd be too dark for anybody in the car to see, dreadfully tired and strained and frantic, like there wasn't enough time left for something he had to do. Ken Kesey tireddarkpast I lay in bed the night before the fishing trip and thought it over, about my being deaf, about the years of not letting on I heard what was said, and I wonder if I can ever act any other way again. But I remembered one thing: it wasn't me that started acting deaf; it was people that first started acting like I was too dumb to hear or see or say anything at all. Ken Kesey fishingnightyears
