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William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs Quotes

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Famous William S. Burroughs Quotes

“Good heavens, there are very detailed, and very arbitrary descriptions in all occult books that suggest how this is done and all this stuff you have to go through. I think myself that it's time for them to come out of the circle and into the street with all this. I said that in an introduction to the Necronomicon. I just don't follow all this absolutely arbitrary ritual of certain incenses and herbs and words and so on.”

OccultMagickLovecraftWilliam BurroughsNecronomicon
Book:Burroughs and Friends: Lost Interviews
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“Junk turns the user into a plant. Plants do not feel pain since pain has no function in a stationary organism. Junk is a pain killer. A plant has no libido in the human or animal sense. Junk replaces the sex drive. Seeding is the sex of the plant and the function of opium is to delay seeding. Perhaps the intense discomfort of withdrawal is the transition from plant back to animal, from a painless, sexless, timeless state back to sex and pain and time, from death back to life.”

FeelsHumansStatesPainTurnsSexAnimalFunctionPlantIntenseTransitionKillersUsersOrganismsTimelessDelayDiscomfortJunkWithdrawalOpiumStationaryPainlessLibidoSex Drive
Author:William S. Burroughs
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“The hallucinogens produce visionary states, sort of, but morphine and its derivatives decrease awareness of inner processes, thoughts and feelings. They are pain killers; pure and simple. They are absolutely contraindicated for creative work, and I include in the lot alcohol, morphine, barbiturates, tranquilizers the whole spectrum of sedative drugs.”

StatesWholeFeelingsPainProcessSimpleCreativeAwarenessProduceDrugPureAlcoholKillersSpectrumVisionariesDecreaseCreative WorkThoughts And FeelingsDerivativesMorphineHallucinogens
Book:Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997
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“There is simply no room left for 'freedom from the tyranny of government' since city dwellers depend on it for food, power, water, transportation, protection, and welfare. Your right to live where you want, with companions of your choosing, under laws to which you agree, died in the eighteenth century with Captain Mission. Only a miracle or a disaster could restore it.”

WantGovernmentLawLeftWaterRoomsCitiesCenturyDependsMiracleDiedAgreeMissionsProtectionDisasterTyrannyWelfareCompanionCaptainsTransportationDwellers
Book:Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader
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“I awoke from The Sickness at the age of forty-five, calm and sane, and in reasonably good health except for a weakened liver and the look of borrowed flesh common to all who survive The Sickness... When I speak of drug addiction I do not refer to keif, marijuana or any preparation of hashish, mescaline, Banisteriopsis caapi, LSD6, Sacred Mushrooms or any other drugs of the hallucinogen group... There is no evidence that the use of any hallucinogen results in physical dependence.”

LooksUseAgeSpeakResultsCommonFiveGroupsDrugEvidenceSacredAddictionCalmFleshPreparationSicknessFortyMarijuanaSaneDependenceBorrowedGood HealthLiverDrug AddictionMushroomsDrug AddictHallucinogensHashish
Author:William S. Burroughs
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“I think that Richard Nixon will go down in history as a true folk hero, who struck a vital blow to the whole diseased concept of the revered image and gave the American virtue of irreverence and skepticism back to the people.”

PeopleThinkingStatesWholeAmericaPoliticalHistoryVirtueAtheismHeroConceptsFolksBlowPositive AtheismPresidentialUsaSkepticismDiseasedIrreverence
Book:Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader
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“Now Christianity sounded good at first to the naive convert. Love, peace and charity - what's wrong with that? I'll tell you what's wrong - a series of unprecedented horrors perpetrated by so-called Christians: The Inquisition, the Conquistadores, the American Indian wars, slavery, Hiroshima and the present-day Bible Belt.”

FirstsWarChristianChristianityHorrorSlaverySeriesCharityIndianNaiveBeltsUnprecedentedPresent DayAmerican IndianInquisitionHiroshima
Author:William S. Burroughs
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“They tend to be suspicious, bristly, paranoid-type people with huge egos they push around like some elephantiasis victim with his distended testicles in a wheelbarrow terrified no doubt that some skulking ingrate of a clone student will sneak into his very brain and steal his genius work.”

PeopleScienceBrainDoubtStudentsHugeTypeGeniusEgoScientistVictimStealingNo DoubtTerrifiedSuspiciousParanoidSneakTesticlesWheelbarrowsIngrates
Book:Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader
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“The underground press serves as the only effective counter to a growing power, and more sophisticated techniques used by establishment mass media to falsify, misrepresent, misquote, rule out of consideration as a priori ridiculous, or simply ignore and blot out of existence: data, books, discoveries that they consider prejudicial to establishment interest.”

BookUsedInterestExistenceGrowingMediaInternetMassDiscoveryPressesTechniqueRidiculousDataConsiderationEstablishmentFree SpeechSophisticatedMass Media
Book:Ah Pook is here, and other texts
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“Take a shot in front of D.L. Probing for a vein in my dirty bare foot... Junkies have no shame... They are impervious to the repugnance of others. It is doubtful if shame can exist in the absence of sexual libido... The junky's shame disappears with his nonsexual sociability which is also dependent on libido.”

IfsFeetFrontsShotsShameDisappearAbsenceDirtyDependentVeinsDoubtfulJunkieSociabilityImperviousProbingBare FeetLibido
Book:Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
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“Nobody's busting into YOUR apartment at three in the morning, are they? Well, then don't worry about what they're doing in South Korea and places like that. It's like the standard of living. Are you content to achieve your higher standard of living at the expense of people all over the world who've got a lower standard of living? Most Americans would say yes. Now we ask the question, are you content to enjoy your political freedom at the expense of people who are less free? I think they would also say yes.”

PeopleThinkingWorldWellsPoliticalThreeAsksEnjoyMorningWorryAchieveHigherStandardsSouthExpensesApartmentKoreaStandards Of LivingPolitical FreedomHigher StandardsSouth KoreaBusting
Author:William S. Burroughs
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“Belief is a meaningless word. What does it mean? I believe something. Okay, now you have someone who is hearing voices and believes in these voices. It doesn't mean they have any necessary reality. Your whole concept of your "I" is an illusion. You have to give something called an "I" before you speak of what the "I" believes.”

GivingBelieveMeanDoeWholeRealityBeliefSpeakI BelieveVoiceIllusionConceptsOkayHearingMeaninglessHearing Voices
Author:William S. Burroughs
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