Quotes by Ken Kesey

“The answer is never the answer. Whats really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, youll always be seeking. Ive never seen anybody really find the answer -- they think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.”

“You cant really be strong until you see a funny side to things.”

“The trouble with super heroes is what to do between phone booths.”

“Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.”

“You dont lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.”

“Take what you can use and let the rest go by”

“Id rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph.”

“Im so insane, I voted for Eisenhower. Oh yeah, well Im so insane, I voted for Eisenhower TWICE!”

“But as Garcia said, you know, the 60s aint over till the fat lady gets high. And that means that whatever it takes to get you high: sometimes grief, sometimes its prayer, fasting. I prefer a joint.”

“To hell with facts! We need stories!”

“When people ask what my best work is, its the bus. I thought you ought to be living your art, rather than stepping back and describing it.”

“Each little flake that comes off of it, I can remember the period that flake came from.”

“If Shakespeare were working right now, he wouldnt be working with a quill pen. He would be working with whatever the cutting edge of theatrical drama would be. And this is where literature is headed.”

“Its been totally successful. Of course, we dont keep any records, so how do we know,”

“Doubt grows with knowledge.”

But he won’t let the pain blot out the humor no more’n he’ll let the humor blot out the pain.

They cant tell so much about you if you got your eyes closed.

Its the truth, even if it didnt happen......if they dont exist, how can a man see them?

I been silent so long now it’s gonna roar out of me like floodwaters and you think the guy telling this is ranting and raving my God; you think this is too horrible to have really happened, this is too awful to be the truth! But, please. It’s still hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it. But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen.

Wed 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.