--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The danger is [in using psychedelic…" description: "\"The danger is [in using psychedelic drugs], just to put it out there, is madness.\" — Terence McKenna" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c53/terence-mckenna-287_danger_the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs_2726100.png" --- # The danger is \[in using psychedelic drugs\], just to put it… ![“The danger is [in using psychedelic drugs], just to put it out there, is madness.” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c53/terence-mckenna-287_danger_the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs_2726100.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c53/terence-mckenna-287_danger_the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs_2726100.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c53/terence-mckenna-287_danger_the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs_2726100.png) > “The danger is \[in using psychedelic drugs\], just to put it out there, is madness.” [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Using psychedelics recklessly is dangerous and irrational. **In simple terms:** Psychedelics can be harmful if misused. Key Takeaway Approach altered states responsibly and with knowledge. Themes risk responsibility mind expansion Mood cautious inquisitive Type philosophical advisory When to use this quote - recreational use - spiritual exploration - therapeutic settings Key Concepts psychology substance use consciousness Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards do you consider before using psychedelics? - How does intention shape the experience? A Different Perspective Neglecting safety can lead to severe consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug/) [Madness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/madness/) [Psychedelic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic/) [Psychedelic drugs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic-drugs/) ## Related quotes > [This is in fact what shamanism is all about, what the end of history is all about, what psychedelic drugs are all about, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-in-fact-what-shamanism-is-all-about-what-the-end-of-history/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Transformation of language through psychedelic drugs is a central factor of the evolution of the social matrix of the rest of the century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/transformation-of-language-through-psychedelic-drugs-is-a-central/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Psychedelic drugs, especially psilocybin, allow a searchlight to be thrown on these deeper levels of the psyche, as Jung correctly stated. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/psychedelic-drugs-especially-psilocybin-allow-a-searchlight-to-be/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I started out in psychedelic drugs, and people said it was a flight from reality. It still is a flight from reality, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-started-out-in-psychedelic-drugs-and-people-said-it-was-a-flight/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Psychedelic drugs cause paranoia, confusion, and total loss of reality in politicians that have never taken them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/psychedelic-drugs-cause-paranoia-confusion-and-total-loss-of-reality/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [“A large dose of niacin is one of the most rapid and reliable ways to pull a person out of a bad trip on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-p-reid/a-large-dose-of-niacin-is-one-of-the-most-rapid-and-reliable-ways-to/) [Daniel P. Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-p-reid/) > [It is essential that our present negative propaganda regarding psychedelic drugs be replaced with honesty and truthfulness about their effects, both good and bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-shulgin/it-is-essential-that-our-present-negative-propaganda-regarding/) [Alexander Shulgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-shulgin/) > [Pursuing the religious life today without using psychedelics drugs is like studying astronomy with the naked eye because that's how they did it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/pursuing-the-religious-life-today-without-using-psychedelics-drugs-is/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [You simply cannot understand psychedelic drugs, which activate the brain, unless you understand something about computers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/you-simply-cannot-understand-psychedelic-drugs-which-activate-the/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [No one can accuse Stuart Young of avoiding the big issues - with insight and verve, he tackles head on the existence of God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-chadbourn/no-one-can-accuse-stuart-young-of-avoiding-the-big-issues-with/) Mark Chadbourn > [The potential of the psychedelic drugs to provide access to the interior universe, is, I believe, their most valuable property.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-shulgin/the-potential-of-the-psychedelic-drugs-to-provide-access-to-the/) [Alexander Shulgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-shulgin/) > [Psychedelic drugs don't change you - they don't change your character - unless you want to be changed. They enable change; they can't impose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-shulgin/psychedelic-drugs-don-t-change-you-they-don-t-change-your-character/) [Alexander Shulgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-shulgin/) > [How he could be a good user of LSD," I asked, "And know about the spiritual dimension - all that sort of thing -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-shulgin/how-he-could-be-a-good-user-of-lsd-i-asked-and-know-about-the/) [Alexander Shulgin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-shulgin/) > [The danger of psychedelic drugs, the danger of mind-opening, the danger of consciousness expansion, the danger of inner discovery is a danger to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/the-danger-of-psychedelic-drugs-the-danger-of-mind-opening-the-danger/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [I ask of cinema what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-jodorowsky/i-ask-of-cinema-what-most-north-americans-ask-of-psychedelic-drugs/) [Alejandro Jodorowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-jodorowsky/) ## 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/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Danger quotes > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [The danger that may really threaten (crime fiction) is that soon there will be more writers than readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-barzun/the-danger-that-may-really-threaten-crime-fiction-is-that-soon-there/) [Jacques Barzun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-barzun/) > [“Anything you fear is a shackle to ur soul. It is a phobia that tethers and blinds ur ability to see and comprehend your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/anything-you-fear-is-a-shackle-to-ur-soul-it-is-a-phobia-that-tethers/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“The set of circumstances that justifies the use of deadly force is a situation of immediate danger of death or great bodily harm to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/massad-ayoob/the-set-of-circumstances-that-justifies-the-use-of-deadly-force-is-a/) [Massad Ayoob](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/massad-ayoob/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/when-one-fib-becomes-due-as-it-were-you-must-forge-another-to-take-up/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [The term 'Pre-Raphaelite' is in danger of becoming one of the most misused tags in art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wood/the-term-pre-raphaelite-is-in-danger-of-becoming-one-of-the-most/) Christopher Wood > [There are dangers in consensus: it could be an attempt to satisfy people holding no particular views about anything. ... No great party can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/there-are-dangers-in-consensus-it-could-be-an-attempt-to-satisfy/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [“I’ll always come back to you,” he said. “Always.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-grant/i-ll-always-come-back-to-you-he-said-always/) [Donna Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-grant/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [Natural history is not taught in seminary. This is curious, as most people in pastoral ministry are about 567 times more likely to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-maitland/natural-history-is-not-taught-in-seminary-this-is-curious-as-most/) [Sara Maitland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-maitland/) > [A sea setting us upon the ice has brought us close to danger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hudson/a-sea-setting-us-upon-the-ice-has-brought-us-close-to-danger/) [Henry Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hudson/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [There's a danger in starting a fire, you'll never know how many bridges you'll burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-a-danger-in-starting-a-fire-you-ll-never-know-how-many/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This is the gift of your species and this is the danger, because you do not choose to control your imaginings. You imagine wonderful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/this-is-the-gift-of-your-species-and-this-is-the-danger-because-you/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) [Browse all 5,463 Danger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The danger is [in using psychedelic drugs], just to put it out there, is madness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terence McKenna" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs-just-to-put-it-out-there-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Danger" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs-just-to-put-it-out-there-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c53/terence-mckenna-287_danger_the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs_2726100.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c53/terence-mckenna-287_danger_the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs_2726100.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c53/terence-mckenna-287_danger_the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs_2726100.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The danger is [in using psychedelic drugs], just to put it out there, is madness.” — Terence McKenna", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Terence McKenna", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The danger is [in using psychedelic...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs-just-to-put-it-out-there-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-danger-is-in-using-psychedelic-drugs-just-to-put-it-out-there-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```