“Suppose we suddenly wake up and see that what we thought to be this and that, ain't this and that at all?”
In this quote by Jack Kerouac, he questions the idea of perception and reality. He suggests that our understanding of things may not always be accurate, and by being more aware and questioning our beliefs, we may discover that things are not always what they seem. This quote encourages us to be open-minded and willing to challenge our preconceived notions in order to gain a deeper understanding of the world around us.
Jack Kerouac's quote, "Suppose we suddenly wake up and see that what we thought to be this and that, ain't this and that at all?", challenges us to critically examine our perceptions and beliefs. In today's fast-paced world filled with information overload and social media influences, it is more important than ever to question our assumptions and remain open to new perspectives. This quote reminds us to stay mindful of our biases and to be willing to reconsider our ideas in the face of new evidence or experiences.
“Suppose we suddenly wake up and see that what we thought to be this and that, ain't this and that at all?” - Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac's quote invites us to consider the possibility of experiencing a moment of awakening where our perceptions and beliefs are completely altered. Reflecting on this quote can prompt us to explore the nature of our reality and question the assumptions we hold. Here are some questions to guide your reflection:
“Then I suddenly had the most tremendous feeling of the pitifulness of human beings, whatever they were, their faces, pained mouths, personalities, attempts to be gay, little petulances, feelings of loss, their dull and empty witticisms so soon forgotten: Ah, for what? I knew that the sound of silence was everywhere and therefore everything everywhere was silence. Suppose we suddenly wake up and see that what we thought to be this and that, ain't this and that at all? I staggered up the hill, greeted by birds, and looked at all the huddled sleeping figures on the floor. Who were all these strange ghosts rooted to the silly little adventure of earth with me? And who was I?”
“But I remember seeing a mess of leaves suddenly go skittering in the wind and into the creek, then floating rapidly down the creek towards the sea, making me feel a nameless horror even then of 'Oh my God, we're all being swept away to sea no matter what we know or say or do”
“Mankind will someday realize that we are actually in contact with the dead and with the other world, whatever it is; right now we could predict, if we only exerted enough mental will, what is going to happen within the next hundred years and be able to take steps to avoid all kinds of catastrophes. When a man dies he undergoes a mutation in his brain that we know nothing about now but which will be very clear someday if scientists get on the ball. The bastards right now are only interested in seeing if they can blow up the world.”
“The world ain't so bad, when you got Japhies, I thought, and felt glad. All the aching muscles and the hunger in my belly were bad enough, and the surroundant dark rocks, the fact that there is nothing to soothe you with kisses and soft words, but just to be sitting there meditating and praying for the world with another earnest young man -- 'twere good enough to have been born just to die, as we all are. Something will come of it in the Milky Ways of eternity stretching in front of all our phantom unjaundiced eyes, friends. I felt like telling Japhy everything I thought but I knew it didn't matter and moreover he knew it anyway and silence is the golden mountain.”
“What is he aching to do? What are we all aching to do? What do we want?” She didn’t know. She yawned. She was sleepy. It was too much. Nobody could tell. Nobody would ever tell. It was all over. She was eighteen and most lovely, and lost.”
“We all agree it's too big to keep up with, that we're surrounded by life, that we'll never understand it, so we center it all in by swigging Scotch from the bottle and when it's empty I run out of the car and buy another one, period.”