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Terence McKenna

Terence McKenna Quotes

Philosopher

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Famous Terence McKenna Quotes

“...the mind is more powerful than any imaginable particle accelerator, more sensitive than any radio receiver or the largest optical telescope, more complete in its grasp of information than any computer: the human body- its organs, its voice, its powers of locomotion, and its imagination- is a more-than-sufficient means for the exploration of any place, time or energy level in the universe.”

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“The 20th century mind is nostalgic for the paradise that once existed on the mushroom dotted plains of Africa where the plant-human symbiosis occurred that pulled us out of the animal body and into the tool-using, culture-making, imagination-exploring creature that we are. And why does this matter? It matters because it shows that the way out is back and that the future is a forward escape into the past. This is what the psychedelic experience means. Its a doorway out of history and into the wiring under the board in eternity.”

WayMindHumansMeanDoeMatterShowsBodyPastCultureImaginationAnimalCenturyCreaturesToolsEternityPlantBoardsParadiseExploring20th CenturyPsychedelicDoorwaysNostalgicMushroomsPsychedelic ExperienceWiringSymbiosis
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“A long long time ago I took an oath to tell all secrets that came my way. Don't tell me a secret, I won't keep it. I'm against secrets, I'm against hierarchies, lineages, all assumption of special knowledge on the part of anyone in the presence of anyone else is abhorrent to me. I mean, I am a true anarchist first and foremost.”

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“There is this persistent theme in all of these notions that death is made more easy, whatever that means, if you've learned the territory before you get there. And you know, in the Mahayana Buddhist situation it even becomes as extreme as saying; 'life is essentially a preparation for death, a studying of the maps of a learning of the skills a packing of your picnic basket so that when you get out there and demons are sniffing you up one side and down the other you don't bungle your mantras'.”

IfsKnowsMeanMadeLife IsEasySidesSituationStudySkillsNotionExtremesBuddhistPreparationThemeDemonMapsTerritoryPersistentBasketsMantrasPicnicsPackingSniffingPreparation For DeathSaying LifePicnic Baskets
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“Where psychedelics comes together with that is that it's going to require a transformation of human language and understanding to stop the momentum of the historical process, to halt nuclear proliferation, germ warfare, infantile 19th century politics, all these things. It cannot be accomplished through a frontal assault upon it by political means.”

HumansMeanTogetherPoliticalLanguageProcessUnderstandingCenturyTransformationHistoricalNuclearAccomplishedWarfareAssaultMomentum19th CenturyHaltGermsProliferationInfantileHuman LanguageNuclear Proliferation
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“Technique to me is a kind of a ... I'm reluctant to talk about it because it seems so obvious to me what good technique is. I mean, you sit down, you shut up, and you pay attention is basically the good technique. And then the footnotes add; on an empty stomach, in a dark room, feeling comfortable.”

KindMeanFeelingsSeemsDarkRoomsPayAttentionComfortableEmptyAddObviousTechniquePay AttentionStomachShut UpReluctantDark RoomFootnotesEmpty Stomach
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“What blinds us, or makes historical progress very difficult, is our lack of awareness that our beliefs have grown obsolete and should be put aside.... This is I think much of the problem of the modern dilemma: Direct experience has been discounted, and in its place all kinds of belief systems have been erected.... If you believe something, you are automatically precluded from believing its opposite; which means that a degree of your human freedom has been forfeited in the act of committing yourself to this belief.”

IfsThinkingShouldBelieveHumansKindMeanHas BeensProblemFaithBeliefDifficultProgressModernAwarenessDegreesDirectOppositesHistoricalAll KindsIf You BelieveDilemmaObsoleteBelief SystemsHuman Freedom
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“The war on drugs was never meant to be won. Instead, it will be prolonged as long as possible in order to allow various intelligence operations to wring the last few hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits from the global drug scam; then defeat will have to be declared. "Defeat" will mean, as it did in the case of the Vietnam War, that the media will correctly portray the true dimensions of the situation and the real players, and that public revulsion at the culpability, stupidity and venality of the Establishment's role will force a policy review.”

MeanLongWarRealLastsOrderForceSituationRolesMillionsCasesPlayerMediaPolicyDrugDollarsDefeatProfitVariousStupidityOperationsDimensionsMeant To BeReviewsVietnamEstablishmentVietnam WarWar On DrugsScamsRevulsionCulpability
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