THIS was really the way my whole road experience began, and the things that were to come are too fantastic not to tell.

More from On the Road

• A pain stabbed my heart as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world.
• 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 an uncommon-place thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles...
• Accept loss forever
• All of life is a foreign country.
• Believe in the holy contour of life
• I hope it is true that a man can die and yet not only live in others but give them life, and not only life but that great consciousness of life.