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William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs Quotes

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Famous William S. Burroughs Quotes

“I see no reason why the artistic world can't absolutely merge with Madison Avenue. Pop art is a move in that direction. Why can't we have advertisements with beautiful words and beautiful images?”

WorldArtReasonBeautifulMovingArt IsPopsArtisticReason WhyNo ReasonAvenuesAdvertisementsMadisonPop ArtBeautiful WordsMadison AvenueBeautiful Images
Book:Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997
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“I wasn't exposed to art as I was growing up, and can't recall the first time I saw a work of art. However, I remember very clearly a vision I had of a little green reindeer when I was a child, and visions emanate from the same mythical area where painting resides. Whatever the reason, I immediately felt comfortable working with visual materials.”

FirstsChildrenLittlesArtReasonRememberFeltVisionGrowing UpSawsGrowingPaintingMaterialsComfortableFirst TimeAreasGreenVisualsWorks Of ArtExposedRecallsEmanateReindeer
Book:Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997
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“Speaking for myself, art differs from writing in that I never know what I'm going to paint until I paint it, so it's almost like automatic writing. A writer, on the other hand, can't help but know what he's going to write, because the activity demands a degree of premeditation.”

KnowsWritingArtHelpingHandsActivityDemandDegreesPaintPremeditation
Book:Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997
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“Visual art and writing don't exist on an aesthetic hierarchy that positions one above the other, because each is capable of things the other can't do at all. Sometimes one picture is equal to 30 pages of discourse, just as there are things images are completely incapable of communicating.”

WritingArtSometimesPositionEqualPagesCapableCommunicateVisualsAestheticIncapableDiscourseHierarchyVisual Art
Book:Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997
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“If you wish to alter or annihilate a pyramid of numbers in a serial relation, you alter or remove the bottom number. If we wish to annihilate the junk pyramid, we must start with the bottom of the pyramid: the Addict in the Street, and stop tilting quixotically for the "higher ups" so called, all of whom are immediately replaceable. The addict in the street who must have junk to live is the one irreplaceable factor in the junk equation. When there are no more addicts to buy junk there will be no junk traffic. As long as junk need exists, someone will service it.”

IfsNeedsLongWishNumbersStreetsHigherRelationBottomFactorsRemoveTrafficAddictEquationsJunkPyramidsSerialsIrreplaceable
Book:Naked Lunch: The Restored Text
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“There is only one thing a writer can write about: what is in front of his senses at the moment of writing... I am a recording instrument... I do not presume to impose "story" "plot" "continuity"... Insofar as I succeed in Direct recording of certain areas of psychic process I may have limited function... I am not an entertainer.”

WritingMayMomentsStoriesCertainProcessOne ThingFrontsSucceedAreasDirectFunctionInstrumentsSensesPlotPsychicsContinuityEntertainers
Book:Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader
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“Evidence indicates that cats were first tamed in Egypt. The Egyptians stored grain, which attracted rodents, which attracted cats. (No evidence that such a thing happened with the Mayans, though a number of wild cats are native to the area.) I don't think this is accurate. It is certainly not the whole story. Cats didn't start as mousers. Weasels and snakes and dogs are more efficient as rodent-control agents. I postulate that cats started as psychic companions, as Familiars, and have never deviated from this function.”

ThinkingFirstsWholeStoriesNumbersHappenedDogEvidenceAreasCatFunctionAgentsNativeCompanionEfficientAccurateGrainEgyptPsychicsSnakesTamedWeaselsRodentsMayans
Author:William S. Burroughs
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