--- title: "4 Beat generation Quotes By Allen Ginsberg" description: "4 Beat generation quotes by Allen Ginsberg. Plus more from Allen Ginsberg and more Beat generation sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/770/allen-ginsberg-1110_beat-generation_democracy-bah-when-i-hear-that-word-i-re_823472.jpg" --- > [“Democracy! Bah! When I hear that word I reach for my feather boa!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/democracy-bah-when-i-hear-that-word-i-reach-for-my-feather-boa/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/770/allen-ginsberg-1110_beat-generation_democracy-bah-when-i-hear-that-word-i-re_823472.jpg) > [I recommend for any basic course on the Beat Generation to familiarize yourself with 'The Idiot,' Prince Myshkin. He was Dostoyevsky's idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-recommend-for-any-basic-course-on-the-beat-generation-to/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/allen-ginsberg-1110_beat-generation_i-recommend-for-any-basic-course-on-the_1572313.jpg) > [“I would rather go mad, gone down the dark road to Mexico, heroin dripping in my veins, eyes and ears full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-would-rather-go-mad-gone-down-the-dark-road-to-mexico-heroin/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/733/allen-ginsberg-1110_beat-generation_i-would-rather-go-mad-gone-down-the-dark_1763154.jpg) > [The motif of Beat Generation is basically misunderstood, a misinterpreted area. There's this superimposition of the idea of a social rebellion, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-motif-of-beat-generation-is-basically-misunderstood-a/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb5/allen-ginsberg-1110_beat-generation_the-motif-of-beat-generation-is-basicall_2314314.jpg) ## Other authors on Beat generation - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b012/author-jack-kerouac-45445.jpg) Jack Kerouac 16 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beat-generation/jack-kerouac/) ## More by Allen Ginsberg > [“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked... who passed through universities with radiant cool eyes hallucinating Arkansas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-saw-the-best-minds-of-my-generation-destroyed-by-madness-starving/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“I'm with you in Rockland in my dreams you walk dripping from a sea-journey on the highway across America in tears to the door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-m-with-you-in-rockland-in-my-dreams-you-walk-dripping-from-a-sea/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Slaves of Plastic! Leather-shoe chino-pants prisoners! Haircut junkies! Dacron-shiffers!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/slaves-of-plastic-leather-shoe-chino-pants-prisoners-haircut-junkies/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [I was putting on a stiff upper lip and trying to fulfill the obligations I thought were demanded of me, taking over my father's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/i-was-putting-on-a-stiff-upper-lip-and-trying-to-fulfill-the/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“No more to say, and nothing to weep for”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/no-more-to-say-and-nothing-to-weep-for/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/poetry-is-not-an-expression-of-the-party-line-it-s-that-time-of-night/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“with my fucking suave manners and knowitall, eyes, and mind full of fantasy - the Me! that horror that keeps me conscious, in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/with-my-fucking-suave-manners-and-knowitall-eyes-and-mind-full-of/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [The apparition of an evil, sick unconscious wild city rose before me in visible semblance, and about the dead buildings in the barren air,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-apparition-of-an-evil-sick-unconscious-wild-city-rose-before-me/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [America I'm putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/america-i-m-putting-my-queer-shoulder-to-the-wheel/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [The desire to have power dissolves. The desire to dominate people for love dissolves. On the other hand, it's a relief to realize you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-desire-to-have-power-dissolves-the-desire-to-dominate-people-for/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Poor dead flower? when did you forget you were a flower?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/poor-dead-flower-when-did-you-forget-you-were-a-flower/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Central Intelligence cutting Meo opium fields! China Lobby copping poppies in Burma! How long this Addict government support our oil-burner matter-habit”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/central-intelligence-cutting-meo-opium-fields-china-lobby-copping/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Forty feet long sixty feet high hotel Covered with old gray for buzzing flies Eye like mango flowing orange pus Ears Durga people vomiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/forty-feet-long-sixty-feet-high-hotel-covered-with-old-gray-for/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Hairy Mammal whaddya want”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/hairy-mammal-whaddya-want/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [“Burroughs ... his very junkhood an accomplishment beyond a million dollars.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/burroughs-his-very-junkhood-an-accomplishment-beyond-a-million-dollars/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beat-generation/allen-ginsberg/#itemlist", "name": "4 Beat generation Quotes By Allen Ginsberg", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Democracy! 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