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Top 200 Ken Kesey Quotes (2026 Update)
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Ken Kesey Quote: “The same old rain, and, if not welcomed, at least accepted – an old gray aunt who came to visit every winter and stayed till spring. You learn to live with her. You learn to reconcile yourself to the little inconveniences and not get annoyed. You remember she is seldom angry or vicious and nothing to get in a stew about, and if she is a bore and stays overlong you can train yourself not to notice her, or at least not to stew about her. Which.”

101. “The same old rain, and, if not welcomed, at least accepted – an old gray aunt who came to visit every winter and stayed till spring. You learn to live with her. You learn to reconcile yourself to the little inconveniences and not get annoyed. You remember she is seldom angry or vicious and nothing to get in a stew about, and if she is a bore and stays overlong you can train yourself not to notice her, or at least not to stew about her. Which.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “He’s safe as long as he can laugh, he thinks, and it works pretty fair.”

102. “He’s safe as long as he can laugh, he thinks, and it works pretty fair.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Living is the purpose of life, And meaning can be found therein. I finds thou. Thou becomes it. And it begins again.”

103. “Living is the purpose of life, And meaning can be found therein. I finds thou. Thou becomes it. And it begins again.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “I can’t help it. I was born a miscarriage. I had so many insults I died. I was born dead. I can’t help it. I’m tired. I’m give out trying. You got chances. I had so many insults I was born dead. You got it easy. I was born dead an’ life was hard. I’m tired. I’m tired out talking and standing up. I been dead fifty-five years.” The.”

104. “I can’t help it. I was born a miscarriage. I had so many insults I died. I was born dead. I can’t help it. I’m tired. I’m give out trying. You got chances. I had so many insults I was born dead. You got it easy. I was born dead an’ life was hard. I’m tired. I’m tired out talking and standing up. I been dead fifty-five years.” The.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “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.”

105. “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.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “No one’s ever dared come out and say it before, but there’s not a man among us that doesn’t think it, that doesn’t feel just as you do about her and the whole business – feel it somewhere down deep in his scared little soul.”

106. “No one’s ever dared come out and say it before, but there’s not a man among us that doesn’t think it, that doesn’t feel just as you do about her and the whole business – feel it somewhere down deep in his scared little soul.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “I felt like you can write forever, but you have a short time to raise a family. And I think a family is a lot more important than writing.”

107. “I felt like you can write forever, but you have a short time to raise a family. And I think a family is a lot more important than writing.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Nobody complains about all the fog. I know why, now: as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe. That’s what McMurphy can’t understand, us wanting to be safe. He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, out in the open where we’d be easy to get at.”

108. “Nobody complains about all the fog. I know why, now: as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe. That’s what McMurphy can’t understand, us wanting to be safe. He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, out in the open where we’d be easy to get at.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Man is certain of nothing but his ability to fail. It is the deepest faith we have, and the unbeliever- the blasphemer, the dissenter- will stimulate in us the most righteous of furies.”

109. “Man is certain of nothing but his ability to fail. It is the deepest faith we have, and the unbeliever- the blasphemer, the dissenter- will stimulate in us the most righteous of furies.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “I forget sometimes what laughter can do.”

110. “I forget sometimes what laughter can do.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Me and Norman Mailer have talked about how hard it is in America to get better. Especially at writing.”

111. “Me and Norman Mailer have talked about how hard it is in America to get better. Especially at writing.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Fascism wants Baptism coast to coast.”

112. “Fascism wants Baptism coast to coast.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “He’s like an old clock the won’t tell time but won’t stop neither with the hands bend out of shape and the face bare of numbers and the alarm rusted silent, an old worthless clock that keeps ticking and cuckooing without meaning nothing.”

113. “He’s like an old clock the won’t tell time but won’t stop neither with the hands bend out of shape and the face bare of numbers and the alarm rusted silent, an old worthless clock that keeps ticking and cuckooing without meaning nothing.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “What the Chronics are – or most of us – are machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired, flaws born in, or flaws beat in over so many years of the guy running head-on into solid things that by the time the hospital found him he was bleeding rust in some vacant lot.”

114. “What the Chronics are – or most of us – are machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired, flaws born in, or flaws beat in over so many years of the guy running head-on into solid things that by the time the hospital found him he was bleeding rust in some vacant lot.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Ratched shall line us all against the wall, where we’ll face the terrible maw of a muzzle-loading shotgun which she has loaded with Miltowns! Thorazines! Libriums! Stelazines! And with a wave of her sword, blooie! Tranquilize all of us completely out of existence.”

115. “Ratched shall line us all against the wall, where we’ll face the terrible maw of a muzzle-loading shotgun which she has loaded with Miltowns! Thorazines! Libriums! Stelazines! And with a wave of her sword, blooie! Tranquilize all of us completely out of existence.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “If somebody’d of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they’d of thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons.”

116. “If somebody’d of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they’d of thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “He shakes the hands of Wheelers and Walkers and Vegetables, shakes hands that he has to pick up out of laps like picking up dead birds, mechanical birds, wonders of tiny bones and wires that have run down and fallen. Shakes hands with everybody he comes to except Big George the water freak, who grins and shies back from that unsanitary hand, so McMurphy just salutes him and says to his own right hand as he walks away, “Hand, how do you suppose that old fellow knew all the evil you been into?”

117. “He shakes the hands of Wheelers and Walkers and Vegetables, shakes hands that he has to pick up out of laps like picking up dead birds, mechanical birds, wonders of tiny bones and wires that have run down and fallen. Shakes hands with everybody he comes to except Big George the water freak, who grins and shies back from that unsanitary hand, so McMurphy just salutes him and says to his own right hand as he walks away, “Hand, how do you suppose that old fellow knew all the evil you been into?”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Alongside the statement about one man’s poison being another man’s high, one might as well add that one man’s saint can be another man’s sore and one man’s hero can turn out to be that man’s biggest hangup.”

118. “Alongside the statement about one man’s poison being another man’s high, one might as well add that one man’s saint can be another man’s sore and one man’s hero can turn out to be that man’s biggest hangup.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “The raw materials of reality without the glue of time are materials adrift and reality is as meaningless as the balsa parts of a model airplane scattered to the wind.”

119. “The raw materials of reality without the glue of time are materials adrift and reality is as meaningless as the balsa parts of a model airplane scattered to the wind.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “The more he tries to stop it, the faster it goes. When he lets his hands and face move like they want to and doesn’t try to hold them back, they flow and gesture in a way that’s real pretty to watch, but when he worries about them and tries to hold back he becomes a wild, jerky puppet doing a high-strung dance. Everything is moving faster and faster, and his voice is speeding up to match.”

120. “The more he tries to stop it, the faster it goes. When he lets his hands and face move like they want to and doesn’t try to hold them back, they flow and gesture in a way that’s real pretty to watch, but when he worries about them and tries to hold back he becomes a wild, jerky puppet doing a high-strung dance. Everything is moving faster and faster, and his voice is speeding up to match.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Tricker the Squirrel is the best piece I ever wrote. It’s intricate.”

121. “Tricker the Squirrel is the best piece I ever wrote. It’s intricate.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “It’s like each face was a sign like one of those “I’m Blind” signs the dago accordion players in Portland hung around their necks, only these signs say “I’m tired” or “I’m scared” or “I’m dying of a bum liver” or “I’m all bound up with machinery and people pushing me alla time.” I can read all the signs, it don’t make any difference how little the print gets.”

122. “It’s like each face was a sign like one of those “I’m Blind” signs the dago accordion players in Portland hung around their necks, only these signs say “I’m tired” or “I’m scared” or “I’m dying of a bum liver” or “I’m all bound up with machinery and people pushing me alla time.” I can read all the signs, it don’t make any difference how little the print gets.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “I sometimes have these spells of compulsive truth. But as Lady Macbeth would say, “The fit is momentary.””

123. “I sometimes have these spells of compulsive truth. But as Lady Macbeth would say, “The fit is momentary.””

Ken Kesey Quote: “You must go through a winter to understand.”

124. “You must go through a winter to understand.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “What a cheery atmosphere, don’t you agree?”

125. “What a cheery atmosphere, don’t you agree?”

Ken Kesey Quote: “The fundamentalists have taken the fun out of the mental.”

126. “The fundamentalists have taken the fun out of the mental.”

Featured in: Fun Quotes

Ken Kesey Quote: “The Haight is just a place; the ’60s was a spirit.”

127. “The Haight is just a place; the ’60s was a spirit.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “While his relaxed, good-natured voice doled out his life for us to live a rollicking past full of kid fun and drinking buddies and loving women and barroom battles over meager honors-for all of us to dream ourselves into.”

128. “While his relaxed, good-natured voice doled out his life for us to live a rollicking past full of kid fun and drinking buddies and loving women and barroom battles over meager honors-for all of us to dream ourselves into.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Whoever comes in the door is usually disappointing, but there is always a chance otherwise. And when a key hits the lock, all the heads come up like there’s strings on them.”

129. “Whoever comes in the door is usually disappointing, but there is always a chance otherwise. And when a key hits the lock, all the heads come up like there’s strings on them.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Allen Ginsberg is a tremendous warrior as time goes by. He’s a warrior first and a poet second.”

130. “Allen Ginsberg is a tremendous warrior as time goes by. He’s a warrior first and a poet second.”

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

Ken Kesey Quote: “There’ve been a lot more people hurt on astro-turf than grass.”

131. “There’ve been a lot more people hurt on astro-turf than grass.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “I’ve enjoyed being a famous writer-except that every once in a while you have to write something.”

132. “I’ve enjoyed being a famous writer-except that every once in a while you have to write something.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “The sun was prying up the clouds and lighting the brick front of the hospital rose red. A thin breeze worked at sawing what leaves were left from the oak trees, stacking them neatly agains the wire cyclone fence. There were little brown birds occasionally on the fence: when a puff of leaves would hit the fence the birds would fly off with the wind. It looked at first like the leaves were hitting the fence and turning into birds and flying away.”

133. “The sun was prying up the clouds and lighting the brick front of the hospital rose red. A thin breeze worked at sawing what leaves were left from the oak trees, stacking them neatly agains the wire cyclone fence. There were little brown birds occasionally on the fence: when a puff of leaves would hit the fence the birds would fly off with the wind. It looked at first like the leaves were hitting the fence and turning into birds and flying away.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Maybe he couldn’t understand why we weren’t able to laugh yet, but he knew you can’t really be strong until you can see a funny side to things.”

134. “Maybe he couldn’t understand why we weren’t able to laugh yet, but he knew you can’t really be strong until you can see a funny side to things.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “They’ve still got their problems, just like all of us. They’re still sick men in lots of ways. But at least there’s that: they are sick men now. No more rabbits, Mack. Maybe they can be well men someday. I can’t say.”

135. “They’ve still got their problems, just like all of us. They’re still sick men in lots of ways. But at least there’s that: they are sick men now. No more rabbits, Mack. Maybe they can be well men someday. I can’t say.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “You don’t plow under the corn because the seed was planted with a neighbor’s shovel.”

136. “You don’t plow under the corn because the seed was planted with a neighbor’s shovel.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “The Republican consciousness has no integrity and it falls apart once you check it out. If you’re a Christian, why would you want to fry this dude?”

137. “The Republican consciousness has no integrity and it falls apart once you check it out. If you’re a Christian, why would you want to fry this dude?”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Thursday,” McMurphy says again. “Looooo,” yells that guy upstairs. “That’s.”

138. “Thursday,” McMurphy says again. “Looooo,” yells that guy upstairs. “That’s.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “If grass were legalized, it would help our drug problem enormously.”

139. “If grass were legalized, it would help our drug problem enormously.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Nobody’s gonna convince me I can’t do something till I try it.” – McMurphy.”

140. “Nobody’s gonna convince me I can’t do something till I try it.” – McMurphy.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “A Man Is Known By The Mice He Keeps.”

141. “A Man Is Known By The Mice He Keeps.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Sometimes I looked at them and sometimes they looked at me, but rarely did we look at one another.”

142. “Sometimes I looked at them and sometimes they looked at me, but rarely did we look at one another.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “In the deepening sky where the spearpoint firs scratch the clouds, already a moon – like a cast-off paring from the setting sun. This is Hank’s bell, too.”

143. “In the deepening sky where the spearpoint firs scratch the clouds, already a moon – like a cast-off paring from the setting sun. This is Hank’s bell, too.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Sometimes I looked at them and sometimes they looked at me, but rarely did we look at one another. It was too naked and painful. More was revealed in a human face than a human being can bear, face-to-face.”

144. “Sometimes I looked at them and sometimes they looked at me, but rarely did we look at one another. It was too naked and painful. More was revealed in a human face than a human being can bear, face-to-face.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “They did type me as a horror writer, but I have been able to do all sorts of things within that framework.”

145. “They did type me as a horror writer, but I have been able to do all sorts of things within that framework.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Truth doesn’t run on time like a commuter train.”

146. “Truth doesn’t run on time like a commuter train.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Then old Pete was on his feet. “I’m tired!” was what he shouted, a strong, angry copper tone to his voice that no one had ever heard before. Everyone hushed. They were somehow ashamed. It was as if he had suddenly said something that was real and true and important and it had put all their childish hollering to shame.”

147. “Then old Pete was on his feet. “I’m tired!” was what he shouted, a strong, angry copper tone to his voice that no one had ever heard before. Everyone hushed. They were somehow ashamed. It was as if he had suddenly said something that was real and true and important and it had put all their childish hollering to shame.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “When you’re around the whole Dead scene, they’re there as a tribal thing; they’re there as part of a rendezvous and a pow-wow.”

148. “When you’re around the whole Dead scene, they’re there as a tribal thing; they’re there as part of a rendezvous and a pow-wow.”

Ken Kesey Quote: “And the forest at night might be beautiful, but if it was dark how was a man to know that?”

149. “And the forest at night might be beautiful, but if it was dark how was a man to know that?”

Ken Kesey Quote: “Major part of the Southern California pop scene in the 60s “People think that love is an emotion. Love is good sense.””

150. “Major part of the Southern California pop scene in the 60s “People think that love is an emotion. Love is good sense.””

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