Monday, April 28, 2014

The Wisdom Of Ken Kesey

By Jack Brummet, American Lit. Ed.


"You don't lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case."

"Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing."

Ken, on a bus trip heading east, stopped in Yellowstone and saw a sign that said "Beware of Bear" and said :  "This used to mean be aware of the bear.  But now, it means 'be afraid of the bear."

“Of offering more than what I can deliver,
I have a bad habit, it is true.
But I have to offer more than I can deliver,
To be able to deliver what I do.”

“Always stay in your own movie.”

“You're either on the bus or off the bus.”

“... 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.”
― from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"When Shakespeare was writing, he wasn't writing for stuff to lie on the page; it was supposed to get up and move around."

"To hell with facts! We need stories!"

“Okay, stand outa the way. Sometimes when I go to exertin' myself I use up all the air nearby and grown men faint from suffocation.”

“Good writin' ain't necessarily good readin'.”
― from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"People think love is an emotion. Love is good sense."

"Loved. You can't use it in the past tense. Death does not stop that love at all."

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

“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.”
― from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph."

"Nowhere else in history has there ever been a flag that stands for the right to burn itself. This is the fractal of our flag. It stands for the right to destroy itself."

"You've got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine; otherwise you're just a lizard standing there with the sun shining on you."

"There's something about taking a plow and breaking new ground. It gives you energy"

"Listen, wait, and be patient. Every shaman knows you have to deal with the fire that's in your audience's eye."

"The '60s aren't over; they won't be over until the Fat Lady gets high."
---o0o---

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