--- title: "3 Consuming Quotes By Terence McKenna" description: "3 Consuming quotes by Terence McKenna. Plus more from Terence McKenna and more Consuming sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/terence-mckenna-287_bones_we-are-told-no-we-re-unimportant-we-re-p_219861.jpg" --- > [We are told 'no', we're unimportant, we're peripheral. 'Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that.' And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-told-no-we-re-unimportant-we-re-peripheral-get-a-degree-get-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/93b/terence-mckenna-287_bones_we-are-told-no-we-re-unimportant-we-re-p_219861.jpg) > [We are told No, you're unimportant, you're peripheral - get a degree, get a job, get a this, get that, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-told-no-you-re-unimportant-you-re-peripheral-get-a-degree-get/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/551/terence-mckenna-287_blowing-it_we-are-told-no-you-re-unimportant-you-re_261998.png) > [Not to know one's true identity is to be a mad, disensouled thing — a golem. And, indeed, this image, sick-eningly Orwellian,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/not-to-know-one-s-true-identity-is-to-be-a-mad-disensouled-thing-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7eb/terence-mckenna-287_ability_not-to-know-one-s-true-identity-is-to-be_547187.png) ## More by Terence McKenna > [History was an incredibly damaging experience, and now it's over . . . in a sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/history-was-an-incredibly-damaging-experience-and-now-it-s-over-in-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The history of man that you don't know is what your unconscious is made out of. Just as the history of yourself that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-history-of-man-that-you-don-t-know-is-what-your-unconscious-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are consciousness. We may not always be monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-consciousness-we-may-not-always-be-monkeys/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What is happening here is we are living past the age, by the millions, living past the age where cultural values make any sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-is-happening-here-is-we-are-living-past-the-age-by-the-millions/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What history is, essentially, is a careening, out-of-control effort to find our way back to this state of primordial balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-history-is-essentially-is-a-careening-out-of-control-effort-to/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [And what is the primary datum? It's the felt presence of immediate experience. In other words, being here now is the primary datum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/and-what-is-the-primary-datum-it-s-the-felt-presence-of-immediate/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/every-step-into-freedom-contains-within-it-the-potential-for-greater/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [This is the message of your life and my life - it’s that nothing lasts. Heraclitus said it: Panta Rhei. All flows, nothing lasts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-the-message-of-your-life-and-my-life-it-s-that-nothing-lasts/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Knowledge, or verbal facility, is no proof that you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/knowledge-or-verbal-facility-is-no-proof-that-you-know-what-you-re/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/no-culture-on-earth-is-as-heavily-narcotized-as-the-industrial-west/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Man was not put on this planet to toil in the mud. Or the god who put us on this planet to toil in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/man-was-not-put-on-this-planet-to-toil-in-the-mud-or-the-god-who-put/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you take psychedelics and the Internet and music and put all of that together you have the basis for a new community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-take-psychedelics-and-the-internet-and-music-and-put-all-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consuming/terence-mckenna/#itemlist", "name": "3 Consuming Quotes By Terence McKenna", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are told 'no', we're unimportant, we're peripheral. 'Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that.' 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And, indeed, this image, sick-eningly Orwellian, applies to the mass of human beings now living in the high-tech industrial democracies. Their authenticity lies in their ability to obey and follow mass style changes that are conveyed through the media. Immersed in junk food, trash media, and cryp-tofascist politics, they are condemned to toxic lives of low awareness. 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