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William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs Quotes

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Famous William S. Burroughs Quotes

“I don't know what falling in love for me is. The concept of romantic love arose in the Middle Ages. Now remember, the Arabs don't even have a word for love-that is, a word for love apart from physical attraction or sex. And this separation of love and sex is a western concept, a Christian concept. As to what falling in love means, I'm uncertain. Love, well, it means simply physical attraction and liking a person at the same time.”

KnowsWellsMeanPersonsAgeChristianRememberFallSexMiddleConceptsFalling In LoveWesternAttractionSeparationRomantic LoveUncertainMiddle AgesLove MeansPhysical Attraction
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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“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
Book:Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997
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“Last night I encountered a dream cat with a very long neck and a body like a human fetus, gray and transluscent. I don't know what it needs or how to provide for it. Another dream years ago of a human child with eyes on stalks. It is very small, but can walk and talk "Don't you want me?" Again, I don't know how to care for the child. But I am dedicated to protecting and nurturing him at any cost! It is the function of the Guardian to protect hybrids and mutants in the vulnerable stage of infancy.”

KnowsWantNeedsYearsHumansChildrenLongDreamBodyEyeCareLastsNightWalksKnow HowStageCostProtectYears AgoCatFunctionVulnerableNecksGrayDedicatedWant MeLast NightGuardianNurturingStalkingInfancyYou Want MeHybridFetusMutants
Author:William S. Burroughs
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“Wouldn't it be great,as Scott Peck suggests, if all medical students had to undergo the symptoms and feeling of a spectrum of illnesses. From acute infections to terminal cancer - and Kuru, the laughing sickness. Just a month for each exposure, controlled of course, and a good heavy dose of excruciating pain. So they'll know what that feels like.”

IfsKnowsFeelsFeelingsPainCoursesLaughingStudentsMonthsCancerIllnessHeavyMedicalSicknessControlledSymptomsExposureSpectrumDoseInfectionTerminalExcruciating PainTerminal Cancer
Book:Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs
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“God save the Queen and a fascist regime … a flabby toothless fascism, to be sure. Never go too far in any direction, is the basic law on which Limey-Land is built. The Queen stabilizes the whole sinking shithouse and keeps a small elite of wealth and privilege on top. The English have gone soft in the outhouse. England is like some stricken beast too stupid to know it is dead. Ingloriously foundering in its own waste products, the backlash and bad karma of empire”

KnowsWholeLawWealthGoneLandStupidProductsWasteBuiltEnglandPrivilegeKarmaQueensBeastEmpiresFascismRegimesElitesFascistsSinkingBacklashBad KarmaToothless
Author:William S. Burroughs
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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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“The face of "evil" is always the face of total need. A dope fiend is a man in total need of dope. Beyond a certain frequency need knows absolutely no limit or control. In the words of total need: "Wouldn't you?" Yes you would. You would lie, cheat, inform on your friends, steal, do anything to satisfy total need. Because you would be in a state of total sickness, total possession, and not in a position to act in any other way. Dope fiends are sick people who cannot act other than they do. A rabid dog cannot choose but bite.”

PeopleKnowsMenWayNeedsStatesWould BeFunnyFacesLyingCertainEvilDogPositionDrugLimitsSickPossessionStealingSicknessBitesCheatFrequencyDope
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.”

PeopleKnowsFirstsArtMadeImportantArtistAwarenessArt IsAspectRageReactionsPermanentExpansionBreakthroughOutrage
Author:William S. Burroughs
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