„Of the Beat triumvirate, Kerouac was probably both the most pathetic and least noxious. Psychologically, he was a mess—as indeed were Ginsberg and Burroughs. But, unlike them, Kerouac lacked the knack of sanctifying his pathologies and inducing others to bow down in obeisance.“

— Allen Ginsberg
„The only business of the head in the world is to bow a ceaseless obeisance to the heart.“
— W.B. Yeats
„A quick temper, sharp tongue, and restless spirit were always getting her into scrapes, and her life was a series of ups and downs, which were both comic and pathetic.“
— Louisa May Alcott