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 KeseyRead
If you don't watch it people will force you one way or the other, into doing what they think you should do, or into just being mule-stubborn and doing the opposite out of spite.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and making independent choices rather than succumbing to external pressures.
Ken Kesey's quote warns against the dangers of inaction and the influence of others on our decisions. It highlights that if we fail to take charge of our own lives, we may find ourselves manipulated by societal expectations or rebelling against them out of resistance. The underlying message is to cultivate the awareness to choose our own paths consciously rather than allowing others to dictate them.
Themes
IndependenceChoiceSelf-AwarenessPressureDecision-Making
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational talk about personal empowerment.
More from Ken Kesey
All quotes →His whole body shakes with the strain as he tries to lift something he knows he can't lift, something everybody knows he can't lift. But, for just a second, when we hear the cement grind at our feet, we think, by golly, he might do it.
Ken KeseyRead
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 KeseyRead
But I remember one thing:_x000D_ _x000D_ it wasn't me that started acting deaf;_x000D_ _x000D_ it was people that first started acting like_x000D_ _x000D_ I was too dumb to hear or see or say anything at all
Ken KeseyRead
The job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.
Ken KeseyRead
If this glorious birth to death hassle is the only hassle we are ever to have ..if our grand exhilarating fight of life is such a tragically short little scrap anyway,compared to the eons of rounds before and after-then why should one want to relinquish even a few precious seconds of it?
Ken KeseyRead
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