Top douchebag Facebook favorite quotations

[oxcoug]

I've seen this one like five times in the last month, always on the pages of people who are really interested in presenting themselves as being hyper-artistic and, ya know, painfully passionate about life and all that.

“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.”

[Art Vandelay]

I've seen this one like five times in the last month, always on the pages of people who are really interested in presenting themselves as being hyper-artistic and, ya know, painfully passionate about life and all that.

“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.”

5 of these individual are your friends? Hmmm. If it walks like a duck...

[DU Ute]

5 of these individual are your friends? Hmmm. If it walks like a duck...

This was my first thought as well. You need some new friends.

[oxcoug]

5 of these individual are your friends? Hmmm. If it walks like a duck...

Hah, no actually - I have seen it twice on the public pages of 'friends' of business associates who I was snooping because I have meetings upcoming with them.

I did see it once on the page of a friend - really more the younger brother of a friend. But he's still in college so he can be excused in some minor douchebaggery.

Can't place the other times but I know there were a couple more.

[landpoke]

I've seen this one like five times in the last month, always on the pages of people who are really interested in presenting themselves as being hyper-artistic and, ya know, painfully passionate about life and all that.

“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.”

When did Kerouac become douchey?

[YOhio]

When did Kerouac become douchey?

When he was born a French-Canadian.

[landpoke]

When he was born a French-Canadian.

I don't know, seems like calling frog-canucks douchey is giving them too much credit. I'm not sure they have the capacity to come up with something even as basic as the popped collar.

[creekster]

Kerouac isnt and never will be douchey. The only thing douchey is when Kerouac gets quoted by some pampered child of the suburbs who wouldnt recognize what Kerouac really meant if it jumped up and bit them in the butt.

[woot]

That passage struck me hard when I read On the Road a few years ago. Sure, I since realized it's overused, but it's really good stuff.

[oxcoug]

That passage struck me hard when I read On the Road a few years ago. Sure, I since realized it's overused, but it's really good stuff.

On one hand - my comment wasn't referring to anything Kerouac has to say, as much as it is (as Creekster noted) about the poseurs who sample it on their Facebook pages.

On the other hand - while the prose sizzles and it sounds super meaningful, I think the ideas behind what he says in this specific paragraph are pretty...frivolous. So really? Impassioned psychos over competent managers? Only had time for people who are basically frothing at the mouth over whatever they do? He didn't have time for any level-headed geniuses? The only people worth talking to are people who "never say a commonplace thing"? (a) I highly doubt that he actually lived his life like this (b) if he tried, were it would be a stupid system for evaluating other people. I accept that Kerouac was a genius, but this is borderline bullshit.

Something comes to mind about sound and fury signifying nothing.

But it does sound good.

(BTW, Woot, still think On the Road is a great work, I just think this particular sentiment has no substance).

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Roll of Toilet Paper is the preferred term.

[creekster]

On one hand - my comment wasn't referring to anything Kerouac has to say, as much as it is (as Creekster noted) about the poseurs who sample it on their Facebook pages.

On the other hand - while the prose sizzles and it sounds super meaningful, I think the ideas behind what he says in this specific paragraph are pretty...frivolous. So really? Impassioned psychos over competent managers? Only had time for people who are basically frothing at the mouth over whatever they do? He didn't have time for any level-headed geniuses? The only people worth talking to are people who "never say a commonplace thing"? (a) I highly doubt that he actually lived his life like this (b) if he tried, were it would be a stupid system for evaluating other people. I accept that Kerouac was a genius, but this is borderline bullshit.

Something comes to mind about sound and fury signifying nothing.

But it does sound good.

(BTW, Woot, still think On the Road is a great work, I just think this particular sentiment has no substance).

I think it is hard to read it as though you were siting in the drawing room with a cognac after a nice meal. He was writing it as a rejection of the stifling conformity of the 50s and a depiction of his yearning for something more, something else. I am not sure he meant it literally and for all time, but I am not sure he considered living for all that long anyway.

I am sure this is obvious and you consider this trite, but it just seems a little unfair to read it out of context.

[wuapinmon]

Who gives a damn what Kerouac "meant?"

[woot]

On one hand - my comment wasn't referring to anything Kerouac has to say, as much as it is (as Creekster noted) about the poseurs who sample it on their Facebook pages.

On the other hand - while the prose sizzles and it sounds super meaningful, I think the ideas behind what he says in this specific paragraph are pretty...frivolous. So really? Impassioned psychos over competent managers? Only had time for people who are basically frothing at the mouth over whatever they do? He didn't have time for any level-headed geniuses? The only people worth talking to are people who "never say a commonplace thing"? (a) I highly doubt that he actually lived his life like this (b) if he tried, were it would be a stupid system for evaluating other people. I accept that Kerouac was a genius, but this is borderline bullshit.

Something comes to mind about sound and fury signifying nothing.

But it does sound good.

(BTW, Woot, still think On the Road is a great work, I just think this particular sentiment has no substance).

I find that I tend to identify closely with iconoclastic literature, whether it be outdoor adventure or off-the-grid type stuff or simple rejection of whatever the culture of the time is. I imagine this is largely because it is unlikely I'll ever climb Everest, hitchhike across America, or anything of the sort. I think these works have value for the unknown or unlikely possibilities that they demonstrate or advocate more so than for their practical value, and for the opportunity they provide to live vicariously through those who lead more exciting lives than the average person will ever have (or want to have).

The quote in question demonstrates an attitude that is greatly appealing, while of course being impractical and downright silly from a practical standpoint. Much of the greatest literature is similarly idealistic, I find.

The greatest love stories and poems, for instance, evoke the intense infatuation that we all wish we could hang on to, and we find it appealing because it demonstrates a state of being we wish we could hold on to even during the banalities and trials of a long-term relationship, not because we find it terribly realistic or practical. Romeo and Juliet very likely would have gotten quite sick of each other, and probably wouldn't have ended up being highly compatible in a long-term relationship, but such realities are not the point of such a powerful story.

[Katy Lied]

When did Kerouac become douchey?

When will you admit to having the sensitive soul of a poet?