But I tried, didn't I? Goddamnit, at least I did that..

The job of the writer is to kiss no ass, no matter how big and holy and white and tempting and powerful..

You seem to forget, Miss Flinn, that this is an institution for the insane..

- he's finished with that; it's like an old clock that won't tell time but won't stop neither, with the hands bent out of shape and the face bare of ….

Now, you’re either on the bus or you’re off the bus..

I'd take a look at my own self in the mirror and wonder how it was possible that anybody could manage such an enormous thing as being what he was..

Luckily, I remembered something Malcolm Cowley had taught us at Stanford - perhaps the most important lesson a writing class (not a writer, understan….

Then - as he was talking - a set of tail-lights going past lit up McMurphy's face, and the windshield reflected an expression that was allowed only b….

Don't say it...I've seen too many loves sundered by too much needless honesty..

But it's the truth even if it didn't happen..

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..

To Vik Lovell who told me dragons did not exist, then led me to their lairs..

It is bad to suppress laughter. It goes back down to your hips. Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing..

People don't want other people to get high, because if you get high, you might see the falsity of the fabric of the society we live in..

She asked if we were calm enough for her to take off the cuffs, and McMurphy nodded. He had slumped over with his head hung and his elbows between hi….

We'd just shared the last beer and slung the empty can out the window at a stop sign and were just waiting back to get the feel of the day, swimming ….

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

More was revealed in a human face than a human being can bear face to face..

The Haight is just a place; the '60s was a spirit..

But, gee," the other nurse says, "what on earth would MAKE a man want to do something like disrupt the ward for, Miss Ratched? What possible motive..….

I used to think we were going to win in the '60s. Nixon went out and I thought we won..