21 Best Allen Ginsberg Quotes

Poet Allen Ginsberg was one of the founders and prominent members of the literary based 'Beat Movement' in America.

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was the full name of this famous poet and writer, who marked the significance in the contemporary counterculture in the '50s in America. Most of his work focused on the topic of free speech.

Poet Allen Ginsberg was a spiritually liberated writer who played a prominent role in bringing the negative sides of society to light. Allen Ginsberg was a follower of Buddhism and stood against the capitalistic approach of the new America, especially after the Cold War. He tried to put forth his strong views and opinions through his poems and other works.

One of his most remarkable works, 'Howl For Carl Solomon', was a poem published in 1956 that expresses pent up frustration, and touched on themes of self-destruction. It was taken to be Allen Ginsberg's most outrageous work of art and was actually banned until 1957 when a Judge named Clayton W. Horn claimed it to be otherwise. A few of Allen Ginsberg's other works include, 'The Fall Of America' (1974), 'Kaddish' (1961), 'First Blues' (1975), 'Iron Horse' (1973), and many more.

This poet and writer has produced many Allen Ginsberg quotes that one can read to feel inspired and to try to connect with the reality of the world. This list includes the best of the poet Allen Ginsberg quotes, including the ones you wouldn't want to miss. If you want to read something similar to these poet Allen Ginsberg's quotes, check out our William S Burroughs quotes and [Jack Kerouac quotes] too.
 

These are a few of the best Allen Ginsberg quotes from his influential poems and other literary works.

1. "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 private world public, that's what the poet does."

- Allen Ginsberg.

2. "No rest without love, no sleep without dreams of love - be mad or chill obsessed with angels or machines, the final wish is love..."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Song', 1954.

3. "I never dreamed the sea so deep, the earth so dark; so long my sleep, I have become another child. I wake to see the world go wild."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'An Eastern Ballad'.

4. "Concentrate on what you want to say to yourself and your friends. Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness. You say what you want to say when you don't care who's listening."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'The Mystery Of The Inner Moonlight'.

5. "Another lover hits the universe. The circle is broken. But with death comes rebirth. And like all lovers and sad people, I am a poet."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Kill Your Darlings'.

6. "The universe is mad, slightly mad."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Reality Sandwiches', 1963.

7. "I have no other possessions of value but my soul."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'The Book Of Martyrdom And Artifice' 1937-52.

8. "The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Song'.

9. "Moloch whom I abandon! Wake up in Moloch! Light streaming out of the sky!"

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Howl'.

10. "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness..."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Howl'.

The longing for a perfect America never seems to fade away. These Allen Ginsberg quotes reflect his views in this poem from 1956. Allen Ginsberg's 'America', is a poem that talks about all the negative sides of the country. Ginsberg thought that time and world events had changed the 'perfect' face of the America he was born into, it became something that didn't seem real to him after the war. He expresses these feelings in these quotes.

11. "America, I've given you all and now I'm nothing. I can't stand my own mind. America when will we end the human war?"

- Allen Ginsberg, 'America'.

12. "America after all it is you and I who are perfect not the next world. Your machinery is too much for me. You made me want to be a saint."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'America'.

13. "America how can I write a holy litany in your silly mood?"

- Allen Ginsberg, 'America'.

14. "It’s true I don’t want to join the Army or turn lathes in precision parts factories, I’m nearsighted and psychopathic anyway."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'America'.

15. "Everybody's serious but me."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'America'.

16. "America, why are your libraries full of tears?"

- Allen Ginsberg, 'America'.

Allen Ginsberg quotes focus a lot on the sense of self and being. These are the most influential set of Allen Ginsberg quotes that every strong individual would love.

17. "We're not our skin of grime, we're not our dread bleak dusty imageless locomotive, we are all golden sunflowers from inside."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Sunflower Sutra'.

18. "I know too much and not enough."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Kaddish', 1961.

19. "I have just discovered that I have no feelings, just thoughts, borrowed thoughts taken from someone I admire because he seems to have feelings."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Jack Kerouac And ‎Allen Ginsberg: The Letters', by ‎Bill Morgan, 2010.

20. "None of us understand what we're doing, but we do beautiful things anyway."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Jack Kerouac And ‎Allen Ginsberg: The Letters', by ‎Bill Morgan, 2010.

21. "Not even the human imagination satisfies the endless emptiness of the soul."

- Allen Ginsberg, 'Reality Sandwiches', 1963.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Allen Ginsberg quotes, then why not take a look at our article about Aldo Leopold quotes, or Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn quotes for more?