---
title: "2 Beat generation Quotes By John Clellon Holmes"
description: "2 Beat generation quotes by John Clellon Holmes. Plus more from John Clellon Holmes and more Beat generation sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/291/john-clellon-holmes-39016_beat-generation_he-d-been-toting-it-and-checking-it-and_583370.jpg"
---

> [“He’d been toting it, and checking it, and packing and unpacking, all the way since fate was on the river - that’s how long - the Big River” - Fate Marable and his riverboat caliope (Cleo seemed to recall), who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/he-d-been-toting-it-and-checking-it-and-packing-and-unpacking-all-the/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/291/john-clellon-holmes-39016_beat-generation_he-d-been-toting-it-and-checking-it-and_583370.jpg)

> [The so-called Beat Generation was a whole bunch of people, of all different nationalities, who came to the conclusion that society sucked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/the-so-called-beat-generation-was-a-whole-bunch-of-people-of-all/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/084/john-clellon-holmes-39016_beat-generation_the-so-called-beat-generation-was-a-whol_1965791.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 John Clellon Holmes

> [But all I could think of was taking some books to read in jail. I held everybody up, choosing which ones to take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/but-all-i-could-think-of-was-taking-some-books-to-read-in-jail-i-held/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [Nothing like the road to rub all the sand out of your soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/nothing-like-the-road-to-rub-all-the-sand-out-of-your-soul/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [“He’d been toting it, and checking it, and packing and unpacking, all the way since fate was on the river - that’s how long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/he-d-been-toting-it-and-checking-it-and-packing-and-unpacking-all-the/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [“A joy without object or reason rose within him, but like all such joys ebbed into frustration almost immediately because he did not know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/a-joy-without-object-or-reason-rose-within-him-but-like-all-such-joys/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [Jazz music hashaunted America for seventy years.It has tempted us out of our lily-white reserve with its black promise of untrammeled joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/jazz-music-hashaunted-america-for-seventy-years-it-has-tempted-us-out/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [“...simply telling the truth wasn’t half enough. It still has to be brought to fictional life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/simply-telling-the-truth-wasn-t-half-enough-it-still-has-to-be/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [Some books accrete things to themselves like a magnet. The writer risks sterility by subjecting the mysterious power of imagination to the devices of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/some-books-accrete-things-to-themselves-like-a-magnet-the-writer/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [The so-called Beat Generation was a whole bunch of people, of all different nationalities, who came to the conclusion that society sucked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/the-so-called-beat-generation-was-a-whole-bunch-of-people-of-all/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [The idiotic industry of an ant building his hill in the path of a glacier, and imagining that he is free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/the-idiotic-industry-of-an-ant-building-his-hill-in-the-path-of-a/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [“While leaning over the toilet getting up his nerve, he thought that the moment before making yourself throw up must be very like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/while-leaning-over-the-toilet-getting-up-his-nerve-he-thought-that/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

> [Certain kinds of clichés are the narcotics of the middle class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-clellon-holmes/certain-kinds-of-clich-s-are-the-narcotics-of-the-middle-class/)

[John Clellon Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-clellon-holmes/)

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