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Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997

Book by William S. Burroughs · 25 quotes · People, Addiction, Art

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Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997 Quotes

“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
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“Well, "disgusting" doesn't refer to the books but to the subjective reaction of the person making the complaint. I don't think that anything is disgusting per se. These words "disgusting" and "filthy," etc., have prevented us from undertaking any scientific experimentation in sexual matters.”

ThinkingWellsPersonsBookMatterReactionsEtcDisgustingComplaintsSubjectiveUndertakingsExperimentationFilthy
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“For instance, they [The Federal Narcotics Bureau ] give out that marijuana is a harmful and habit-forming drug, and it simply isn't. They claim that you can get addicted to opiates with one shot, and you can't. They over-estimate the physical bad effects, and so forth.”

GivingEffectsHabitDrugShotsClaimsInstanceMarijuanaNarcoticsOpiates
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“Mr. Bradley-Mr. Martin is two people because it is a statement of the impasse of dualistic universe which he has created, they have created. I think that any dualistic universe ends in Nova. Mr. Bradley-Mr. Martin is a kind of God. A God of stupidity, cowardice, ugliness.”

PeopleThinkingKindTwoEndsUniverseStupidityStatementsCowardiceUglinessNovasImpasse
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“I've seen villages in South America with no police whatever. Then the cops would arrive, then the sanitary inspectors, and before you know it they've got all the problems - crime, juvenile delinquency, the whole works - just like us.”

KnowsWholeProblemAmericaCrimePoliceSouthVillageCopJuvenileSouth AmericaInspectorsDelinquencySanitaryJuvenile Delinquency
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“I have no message to give the politicians of the world. They're all completely addicted to promiscuous verbalization and I'm quite sure they would not be at all interested in hearing about cut-ups and hieroglyphics and still less interested to hear about silence.”

WorldGivingStillsSilenceCuttingPoliticianMessagesHearingPromiscuousHieroglyphics
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“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
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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
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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
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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
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“What are Americans? We've got everything from sharecroppers to atomic physicist here, and there's certainly no uniformity in their thought processes. There's very little they have in common. In fact, Americans should we say, have less in common than any other nationality.”

ShouldLittlesFactsProcessCommonPhysicistHere And ThereNationalityUniformityThought Process
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“The idea that addiction is somehow a psychological illness is, I think, totally ridiculous. It's as psychological as malaria. It's a matter of exposure. People, generally speaking, will take any intoxicant or any drug that gives them a pleasant effect if it is available to them.”

PeopleIfsThinkingGivingIdeasMatterEffectsDrugAddictionIllnessAvailableRidiculousPsychologicalPleasantExposureMalaria
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