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William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs Quotes

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Famous William S. Burroughs Quotes

“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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“According to the legend an evil old doctor, who called himself God and us dogs, created the first boy in his adolescent image. The boy peopled the garden with male phantoms that rose from his ejaculations. This angered God, who was getting on in years. He decided it endangered his position as CREATOR. So he crept upon the boy and anaesthetized him and made Eve from his rib. Henceforth all creation of beings would process through female channels. But some of Adam's phantoms refused to let God near them under any pretext.”

YearsFirstsMadeEvilProcessBoysDogCreationPositionLetting GoFemaleGardenDecidedDoctorsRoseMalesCreatorLegendsAdamDoctor WhoPhantomsRibsPretextEjaculation
Author:William S. Burroughs
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“I don't go into hysterics or anything, but I look around for something to smash it with. I used to live out in the country when I first moved here, and there were a lot of centipedes in the house, and I set out to kill them all. A program of genocide. I'd wake up in the middle of the night, and I'd know there's a centipede in this room. And there always was. And I couldn't go to sleep until I killed it.”

KnowsFirstsLooksCountryUsedNightHouseSleepRoomsMiddleProgramWake UpMovedGenocideHere And ThereGoing To SleepMiddle Of The NightCentipedes
Book:Esquire: The Magazine for Men
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“The idea was that we would decide the order when we looked at the proofs. I remember Brion Gysin saying "Well, why change it? It's perfect the way it is, the way it came from the printer." Made one major change, that is, the first chapter that came from the printers, which would be the beginning, we moved to the end. The first chapter became the last chapter. There's no actual cutups in Naked Lunch.”

WayFirstsWellsMadeIdeasEndsWould BeLastsRememberOrderPerfectMajorsMovedProofNakedLunchChaptersPrinterMajor ChangeWhy Change
Author:William S. Burroughs
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“To be an outlaw you must first have a base in law to reject and get out of, I never had such a base. I never had a place I could call home that meant any more than a key to a house, apartment or hotel room. ... Am I alien? Alien from what exactly? Perhaps my home is my dream city, more real than my waking life precisely because it has no relation to waking life.”

FirstsRealHomeDreamLawHouseRoomsCitiesKeysRelationAliensHotelRejectsWakingApartmentIn-lawsOutlawHotel RoomsWaking Life
Author:William S. Burroughs
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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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“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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“One very important aspect of art is that it makes people aware of what they know and don’t know they know... Once the breakthrough is made, there is a permanent expansion of awareness. But there is always a reaction of rage, of outrage, at the first breakthrough... So the artist, then, expands awareness. And once the breakthrough is made, this becomes part of the general awareness.”

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Author:William S. Burroughs
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