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Quote by William S. Burroughs

“My relationship with cats has saved me from a deadly and pervasive ignorance.”

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William S. Burroughs was an American novelist known for his unique writing style and his significant influence on postmodern literature. His works often involve social criticism, political satire, and surrealistic elements. more

“From somewhere, back in my youth, heard Prof say, 'Manuel, when faced with a problem you do not understand, do any part of it you do understand, then look at it again.' He had been teaching me something he himself did not understand very well—something in math—but had taught me something far more important, a basic principle.”

Wells Looks Important Problem Principles Heard Teaching Youth Taught Math Basic Principles

Author:Robert A. Heinlein

“I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story - the larger founded on the lesser in contact with the earth, the lesser drawing splendour from the vast backcloths - which I could dedicate simply to: to England; to my country. ... I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama.”

“The past is all we know of the future.”

Knows Past

Book:The Lacuna

Source: The Lacuna

“When you're huntin' somepin you're a hunter, an' you're strong. Can't nobody beat a hunter. But when you get hunted - that's different. Somepin happens to you. You ain't strong: maybe you're fierce, but you ain't strong." - Muley”

Different Happens Strong Beats Fierce Hunters Hunted

Book:The Grapes of Wrath

Source: The Grapes of Wrath

“I can't talk you in terms of time --your time and my time are different”

I Can Different Term My Time

Book:Collected Stories

Source: Collected Stories

“There is no articulate resonance. The common problem, I suppose, is to have more to say than vocabulary and syntax can bear. That is why I am hunting in these desiccated streets. The smoke hides the sky's variety, stains consciousness, covers the holocaust with something safe and insubstantial. It protects from greater flame. It indicates fire, but obscures the source. This is not a useful city. Very little here approaches any eidolon of the beautiful.”

Littles Problem Beautiful Common Cities Consciousness Fire Greater Sky Streets Source Bears Protect Safe Approach Variety Smoke Flames Holocaust Hunting Vocabulary Stains Resonance Syntax

Author:Samuel R. Delany

“The circus tent was flowing pale in the rain like a fleshy flower lit from within. It seemed to bloom in the downpour. Drops of rain caught on Rafe's eyelashes, blinding him as the circus light struck them. He groped for the flap, that slit in the fabric that would reveal her to him. She was on the rope again, her skirt flashing with tiny mirrors, hair braided with petals. He looked up at her, dizzy with it, seeing her face framed in the parasol. There were bluish shadows around her eyes.”

Light Eye Faces Seeing Flower Hair Shadow Rain Mirrors Caught Tiny Pale Fabric Her Eyes Lit Rope Circus Skirts Tents Petals Framed Dizzy Eyelashes Slits Parasols

Author:Francesca Lia Block

“You can't fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.”

Quality Fake Meals Writing Life Fake People Screenwriting Great Writing Good Meals

Book:The Western Lands

Source: The Western Lands

“To know who I am is a species of knowing where I stand. My identity is defined by the commitments and identifications which provide the frame or horizon within which I can try to determine from case to case what is good, or valuable, or what ought to be done, or what I endorse or oppose. In other words, it is the horizon within which I am capable of taking a stand.”

Knows Trying I Can Done Cases Knowing Identity Ought Capable Commitment Species Determine Valuable Who I Am Defined Horizon Identification

Book:Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity

Source: Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity

“Miss Trent regarded her thoughtfully. "Well, it's an odd circumstance, but I've frequently observed that whenever you boast of your beauty you seem to lose some of it. I expect it must be the change in your expression." Startled, Tiffany flew to gaze anxiously into the ornate looking-glass which hung above the fireplace. "Do I?" she asked naively. "Really do I, Ancilla?" "Yes, decidedly," replied Miss Trent, perjuring her soul without the least hesitation.”

Wells Soul Seems Loses Missing Expression Circumstances Glasses Odd Hung Boast Flew Hesitation Fireplaces

Author:Georgette Heyer

Quote by William S. Burroughs

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