Jack Kerouac: Summer Reading

This summer I'll be spending a lot of time on planes so I decided to make a summer reading list that will help me pass the time. One book I've always wanted to read is "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, here is one of his quotes I find especially inspiring.

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."

I have always loved to read. One of the most satisfying moments to me is discovering a lyric or a passage that describes what you have always thought or felt but never quite been able to verbalize. There is something affirming about that moment, discovering you are not quite alone in your thoughts and perhaps not quite crazy. The following is one of those quotes:

"the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars"