Jack Kerouac, in On the Road (1962), Ch. 9
“
It seemed like a matter of minutes when we began rolling in the foothills before Oakland and suddenly reached a height and saw stretched out ahead of us the fabulous white city of San Francisco on her eleven mystic hills with the blue Pacific and its advancing wall of potato-patch fog beyond, and smoke and goldenness of the late afternoon of time.
— Jack Kerouac on San Francisco
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It seemed like a matter of minutes when we began rolling in the foothills before Oakland and suddenly reached a height and saw stretched out ahead of us the fabulous white city of San Francisco on her eleven mystic hills with the blue Pacific and its advancing wall of potato-patch fog beyond, and smoke and goldenness of the late afternoon of time." in the context of "Jack Kerouac, in On the Road (1962), Ch. 9" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "San Francisco" (Quotes: Alphabetized by author or source, K)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
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About Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac (12 March 1922 – 21 October 1969), born Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, was an American novelist, poet, and artist. He was a central figure among Beat Generation writers.
About Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac (12 March 1922 – 21 October 1969), born Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, was an American novelist, poet, and artist. He was a central figure among Beat Generation writers.
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