--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All writing is in fact cut-ups. A collage…" description: "\"All writing is in fact cut-ups. A collage of words read heard overheard. What else?\" — William S. Burroughs" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/william-s-burroughs-528_artist_all-writing-is-in-fact-cut-ups-a-collage_3194365.png" --- # All writing is in fact cut-ups. A collage of words read… ![“All writing is in fact cut-ups. A collage of words read heard overheard. What else?” quote by William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/william-s-burroughs-528_artist_all-writing-is-in-fact-cut-ups-a-collage_3194365.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/william-s-burroughs-528_artist_all-writing-is-in-fact-cut-ups-a-collage_3194365.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/william-s-burroughs-528_artist_all-writing-is-in-fact-cut-ups-a-collage_3194365.png) > “All writing is in fact cut-ups. A collage of words read heard overheard. What else?” [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing is a collage of fragments, assembled like cut‑up pieces, reflecting the chaotic nature of language. **In simple terms:** Writing is like a collage of cut‑up words. Key Takeaway Embrace fragmentation in writing. Themes literature fragmentation collage Mood experimental provocative Type creative literary When to use this quote - novel writing - poetry - song lyrics - advertising copy Key Concepts post‑modernism cut‑up technique Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance chaos with coherence? - When does collage become noise? A Different Perspective Fragmentation can obscure clear communication. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“The most insightful thing I ever heard, was overheard. I was waiting for a rail replacement bus in Hackney Wick. 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It's sitting down and doing it whether you think you have it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-a-serious-writer-requires-discipline-that-is-iron-fisted-it-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ We can translate word and letter into color - \[Arthur\] Rimbaud stated that in his color vowels, words quote "words" can be read in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/we-can-translate-word-and-letter-into-color-arthur-rimbaud-stated/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [The photo collage is a way to travel that must be used with skill and precision if we are to arrive... The collage as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/the-photo-collage-is-a-way-to-travel-that-must-be-used-with-skill-and/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [The best books are not read even by those who are called good readers. What does our Concord culture amount to? There is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-best-books-are-not-read-even-by-those-who-are-called-good-readers/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act upon them?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/however-many-holy-words-you-read-however-many-you-speak-what-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The big problem was subvocalization, or the sounding out of words in his mind as he read them. 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Set aside about 30 minutes every four to five hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-porter-thomas/to-begin-look-over-the-chapters-by-glancing-at-the-content-on-the/) [Caroline Porter Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-porter-thomas/) > [I want the words to be read in conjunction with the music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-tong/i-want-the-words-to-be-read-in-conjunction-with-the-music/) [Matt Tong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-tong/) ## More by William S. Burroughs > [“Control never be a means to any practical end. It can never be a means to anything but more control… Like punk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/control-never-be-a-means-to-any-practical-end-it-can-never-be-a-means/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“Well as, one judge said to the other, 'Be just and if you can't be just be arbitrary.' Regret cannot observe customary obscenities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/well-as-one-judge-said-to-the-other-be-just-and-if-you-can-t-be-just/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say 'I want to see the manager.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/after-one-look-at-this-planet-any-visitor-from-outer-space-would-say/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [For seven days she lay in bed looking sullenly at the ceiling as though resenting the death she had cultivated for so many years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/for-seven-days-she-lay-in-bed-looking-sullenly-at-the-ceiling-as/) [William S. 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No Holy Grail, No Final Satori, no solution. Just conflict. Only thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/there-is-no-final-enough-of-wisdom-experience-any-fucking-thing-no/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“For John Dillinger In hope he is still alive Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1986 In hope he is still alive Thanks for the wild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/for-john-dillinger-in-hope-he-is-still-alive-thanksgiving-day/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“Did I ever tell you about the man who taught his asshole to talk? His whole abdomen would move up and down, you dig,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/did-i-ever-tell-you-about-the-man-who-taught-his-asshole-to-talk-his/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [You need a good bedside manner with doctors or you will get nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/you-need-a-good-bedside-manner-with-doctors-or-you-will-get-nowhere/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/there-couldn-t-be-a-society-of-people-who-didn-t-dream-they-d-be-dead/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [I prefer cats to people, for the most part. Most people aren't cute at all, and if they are cute they very rapidly outgrow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/i-prefer-cats-to-people-for-the-most-part-most-people-aren-t-cute-at/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [ \[Arab peoples\] are stuck back thousands of years and they think they're going to get out with a TV set. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/arab-peoples-are-stuck-back-thousands-of-years-and-they-think-they-re/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“It is not the intensity but the duration of pain that breaks the will to resist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/it-is-not-the-intensity-but-the-duration-of-pain-that-breaks-the-will/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) [Explore all 484 William S. Burroughs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. 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They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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