Trouble with you is you don't do plenty night zazen especially when it's cold out, that's best, besides you should get married and have halfbreed babies, manuscripts, homespun blankets and mother's milk on your happy ragged mat floor like this one. Get yourself a hut house not too far from town, live cheap, go ball in the bars once in awhile, write and rumble in the hills and learn how to saw boards and talk to grandmas you damn fool, carry loads of wood for them, clap your hands at shrines, get supernatural favors, take flower-arrangement lessons and grow chrysanthemums by the door, and get married for krissakes, get a friendly smart sensitive human-being gal who don't give a shit for martinis every night and all that dumb white shit in the kitchen.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A long, passionate plea urging someone to embrace a simple, spiritual, and domestic life rooted in tradition and hard work.
- In plain terms
- You should live simply, work hard, practice meditation, and start a family.
- What can you take from it?
- True fulfillment comes from simple living, spiritual practice, and family.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What simple things bring you peace?
- Are you chasing complexity over contentment?
Another view
This idealized life may not suit everyone's desires or circumstances.
More from Jack Kerouac
I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted.
Permalink to quote #35 If you have ice cream I will give you some. If you have no ice cream I will take it away from you. (It is an ice cream koan [cone].)
Permalink to quote #37 Sociability is just a big smile, and a big smile is nothing but teeth.
Permalink to quote #34
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