--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know the secrets; I dig Joyce and…" description: "\"“I know the secrets; I dig Joyce and Proust above Melville and Celine.”\" — Jack Kerouac" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/jack-kerouac-182_proust_i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-prous_3143206.jpg" --- # I know the secrets; I dig Joyce and Proust above Melville… ![“I know the secrets; I dig Joyce and Proust above Melville and Celine.” quote by Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/jack-kerouac-182_proust_i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-prous_3143206.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/jack-kerouac-182_proust_i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-prous_3143206.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/jack-kerouac-182_proust_i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-prous_3143206.jpg) > ““I know the secrets; I dig Joyce and Proust above Melville and Celine.”” [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Kerouac claims his literary taste favors modernist writers over classic American authors, highlighting a personal preference for experimental narratives. **In simple terms:** He prefers modernist writers over classic ones. Key Takeaway Explore diverse literary voices. Themes literary taste modernism personal preference Mood reflective introspective Type analytical literary When to use this quote - reading clubs - creative writing - book recommendations - literary criticism Key Concepts experimental narrative author hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - What modernist themes resonate with you? - How do you balance classic and contemporary reading? A Different Perspective May overlook timeless insights from classic works. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proust/) [Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secrets/) ## Related quotes > [ The same tantalizing guile and sublime skill…\[The series is\] reinforced in its claim to be one of the major literary works of this century…Only… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-myers/the-same-tantalizing-guile-and-sublime-skill-the-series-is-reinforced/) [Kevin Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-myers/) > [“My work comprises one vast book like Proust's except that my remembrances are written on the run instead of afterwards in a sick bed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/my-work-comprises-one-vast-book-like-proust-s-except-that-my/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“So even that marvelous, long remembrances of life all the time in the world to just sit there or lie there or walk about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/so-even-that-marvelous-long-remembrances-of-life-all-the-time-in-the/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“You're as strong as the Pont Neuf. You'll live to bury us all!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/you-re-as-strong-as-the-pont-neuf-you-ll-live-to-bury-us-all/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [A businessman who reads Business Week is lost to fame. One who reads Proust is marked for greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/a-businessman-who-reads-business-week-is-lost-to-fame-one-who-reads/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [As for the multiple editions, in the case of a truly great writer - Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Proust, someone with a canon - there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-thurman/as-for-the-multiple-editions-in-the-case-of-a-truly-great-writer/) [Judith Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-thurman/) > [“Hence Proust’s assertion that the greatness of works of art has nothing to do with the apparent quality of their subject matter, and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/hence-proust-s-assertion-that-the-greatness-of-works-of-art-has/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Proust has listed a great many reasons why it is impossible to be happy, but, in the course of being happy, one finds it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-empson/proust-has-listed-a-great-many-reasons-why-it-is-impossible-to-be/) [William Empson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-empson/) > [“Proust is famous for his rhapsodies on hawthorns but his book has only three of these, whereas there are thirteen scenes in brothels, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-foley/proust-is-famous-for-his-rhapsodies-on-hawthorns-but-his-book-has/) [Michael Foley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-foley/) > [“Memory, personal and historical, is often accompanied by moralistic sentiment. Nostalgia is an act of escapism and self-indulgence, but to forget the past is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-glinter/memory-personal-and-historical-is-often-accompanied-by-moralistic/) Ezra Glinter > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust is interested in minutiae because life, as he sees it, is seldom ever about things but about our impression of things, not about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/proust-is-interested-in-minutiae-because-life-as-he-sees-it-is-seldom/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [“She couldn't demand that Mrs. Proust get off the bed; it wasn't her bed. It wasn't her castle. She smiled. In fact it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/she-couldn-t-demand-that-mrs-proust-get-off-the-bed-it-wasn-t-her-bed/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Events like this don't give me the sense of oneness others seem to enjoy; it's always been private occasions that make me feel connected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/events-like-this-don-t-give-me-the-sense-of-oneness-others-seem-to/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [You know, the more grown-up you are, the more you like Proust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-rykiel/you-know-the-more-grown-up-you-are-the-more-you-like-proust/) [Sonia Rykiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-rykiel/) ## More by Jack Kerouac > [Bein Crazy is the least of my worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/bein-crazy-is-the-least-of-my-worries/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-catholic-and-i-can-t-commit-suicide-but-i-plan-to-drink-myself-to/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [But, outside of being a sweet little girl, she was awfully dumb and capable of doing horrible things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/but-outside-of-being-a-sweet-little-girl-she-was-awfully-dumb-and/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“For when you realized that God is Everything you know that you've got to love everything no matter how bad it is, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/for-when-you-realized-that-god-is-everything-you-know-that-you-ve-got/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“I'm an idealist who has outgrown my idealism I have nothing to do the rest of my life but do it and the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-an-idealist-who-has-outgrown-my-idealism-i-have-nothing-to-do-the/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Most of them were running away from something―usually the law.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/most-of-them-were-running-away-from-something-usually-the-law/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Non lo so, non importa e non fa nessuna differenza.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/non-lo-so-non-importa-e-non-fa-nessuna-differenza/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“And in the flush of the first few days of joy I confidently tell myself (not expecting what I'll do in three weeks only)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/and-in-the-flush-of-the-first-few-days-of-joy-i-confidently-tell/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I want a blaze of light to flame in me forever in a timeless, dear love of everything. And why should I pretend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-want-a-blaze-of-light-to-flame-in-me-forever-in-a-timeless-dear/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“For the next week that was all I heard - manana, a lovely word and one that probably means heaven.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/for-the-next-week-that-was-all-i-heard-manana-a-lovely-word-and-one/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“O how wonderful life is, how miraculous, God made this and God made that", "how do you know he doesn't hate what He did:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/o-how-wonderful-life-is-how-miraculous-god-made-this-and-god-made/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Notoriety and public confession in the literary form is a frazzler of the heart you were born with, believe me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/notoriety-and-public-confession-in-the-literary-form-is-a-frazzler-of/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [I promise I shall never give up, and that I'll die yelling & laughing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-promise-i-shall-never-give-up-and-that-i-ll-die-yelling-laughing/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“The hot water pools are steaming, Fagan and Monsanto and the others are all sitting peacefully up to their necks, they're all naked, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-hot-water-pools-are-steaming-fagan-and-monsanto-and-the-others/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) [Explore all 936 Jack Kerouac quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) ## More Proust quotes > [You know, the more grown-up you are, the more you like Proust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-rykiel/you-know-the-more-grown-up-you-are-the-more-you-like-proust/) [Sonia Rykiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-rykiel/) > [“Events like this don't give me the sense of oneness others seem to enjoy; it's always been private occasions that make me feel connected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-cain/events-like-this-don-t-give-me-the-sense-of-oneness-others-seem-to/) [Susan Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-cain/) > [“She couldn't demand that Mrs. Proust get off the bed; it wasn't her bed. It wasn't her castle. She smiled. In fact it really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/she-couldn-t-demand-that-mrs-proust-get-off-the-bed-it-wasn-t-her-bed/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Proust is interested in minutiae because life, as he sees it, is seldom ever about things but about our impression of things, not about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/proust-is-interested-in-minutiae-because-life-as-he-sees-it-is-seldom/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Memory, personal and historical, is often accompanied by moralistic sentiment. Nostalgia is an act of escapism and self-indulgence, but to forget the past is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-glinter/memory-personal-and-historical-is-often-accompanied-by-moralistic/) Ezra Glinter > [“Proust is famous for his rhapsodies on hawthorns but his book has only three of these, whereas there are thirteen scenes in brothels, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-foley/proust-is-famous-for-his-rhapsodies-on-hawthorns-but-his-book-has/) [Michael Foley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-foley/) > [Proust has listed a great many reasons why it is impossible to be happy, but, in the course of being happy, one finds it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-empson/proust-has-listed-a-great-many-reasons-why-it-is-impossible-to-be/) [William Empson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-empson/) > [“Hence Proust’s assertion that the greatness of works of art has nothing to do with the apparent quality of their subject matter, and everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/hence-proust-s-assertion-that-the-greatness-of-works-of-art-has/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [As for the multiple editions, in the case of a truly great writer - Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Proust, someone with a canon - there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-thurman/as-for-the-multiple-editions-in-the-case-of-a-truly-great-writer/) [Judith Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-thurman/) > [A businessman who reads Business Week is lost to fame. One who reads Proust is marked for greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/a-businessman-who-reads-business-week-is-lost-to-fame-one-who-reads/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“You're as strong as the Pont Neuf. You'll live to bury us all!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/you-re-as-strong-as-the-pont-neuf-you-ll-live-to-bury-us-all/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Nothing would have shocked Proust more than to hear that his work was perceived as difficult or inaccessibly rarefied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-aciman/nothing-would-have-shocked-proust-more-than-to-hear-that-his-work-was/) [Andre Aciman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-aciman/) > [How about Proust's In Search of Lost Time?" Tamaru asked. "If you've never read it this would be a good opportunity to read the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/how-about-proust-s-in-search-of-lost-time-tamaru-asked-if-you-ve/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Marcel Proust shut out visitors from his cork-lined room, where he wrote, but he probably expected to be immortalized in the literary canon. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/marcel-proust-shut-out-visitors-from-his-cork-lined-room-where-he/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) [Browse all 162 Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proust/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I know the secrets; I dig Joyce and Proust above Melville and Celine.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jack Kerouac" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-proust-above-melville-and-celine/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Proust" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-proust-above-melville-and-celine/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/jack-kerouac-182_proust_i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-prous_3143206.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/jack-kerouac-182_proust_i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-prous_3143206.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0c/jack-kerouac-182_proust_i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-prous_3143206.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I know the secrets; I dig Joyce and Proust above Melville and Celine.” — Jack Kerouac", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jack Kerouac", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I know the secrets; I dig...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-proust-above-melville-and-celine/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-know-the-secrets-i-dig-joyce-and-proust-above-melville-and-celine/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```