All William S. Burroughs Quotes
- Gentle reader, the Fountain of Youth is radioactive, and those who imbibe its poisonous heavy waters will suffer the hideous fate of decaying metal. Yet… Almost Without
- Most people don't see what's going on around them. That's my principal message to writers: 'For God's sake, keep your eyes open. Notice what's going… Eye
- No body of knowledge needs an organizational policy. Organizational policy can only impede the advancement of knowledge. There is a basic incompatibility between any organization… Advancement
- 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… Absolutely
- I started to write in about 1950; I was thirty-five at the time; there didn't seem to be any strong motivation. I simply was endeavoring… Addict
- 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… Area
- Most serious writers refuse to make themselves available to the things that technology is doing. I've never been able to understand this sort of fear. Able
- 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… Activity
- 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… Aesthetic
- Kerouac opened a million coffee bars and sold a million pairs of Levis to both sexes. Woodstock rises from his pages. Bars
- All political movements are basically anti-creative - since a political movement is a form of war. "There's no place for impractical dreamers around here," that's… Activities
- And there are my cats, engaged in a ritual that goes back thousands of years, tranquilly licking themselves after the meal. Practical animals, they prefer… Accepted
- His whole being radiates a pure, wild sweetness, flitting through night woods with little melodious cries, on some cryptic errand. There is also an aura… Abandoned
- 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… Agents
- America is not a young land: it is old and dirty and evil before the settlers, before the Indians. The evil is there waiting. America
- Once the law starts asking questions, there's no stopping them. Asking
- Piss off Satan and don't take me for dumber than I look. Atheism
- After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. I sure as hell wouldn't want… Allowed
- After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. Always Want
- Writing prejudicial, off-putting reviews is a precise exercise in applied black magic. The reviewer can draw free-floating disagreeable associations to a book by implying that… Any
- 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… Absolutely
- The idea that anyone can use drugs and escape a horrible fate is anathema to these idiots. I predict in the near future right-wingers will… Anathema
- No atomic physicist has to worry, people will always want to kill other people on a mass scale. Sure, he's got the fridge full of… Always Want
- Virtue is simply happiness, and happiness is a by-product of function. You are happy when you are functioning. Function
- Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination. Any