--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forward steps are made by giving up old…" description: "\"Forward steps are made by giving up old armor because words are built into you - in the soft typewriter of the womb you do not realize the word-armor y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/804/william-s-burroughs-528_accustomed_forward-steps-are-made-by-giving-up-old_2677711.jpg" --- # Forward steps are made by giving up old armor because… ![“Forward steps are made by giving up old armor because words are built into you - in the soft typewriter of the womb you do not realize the word-armor you carry; for example, when you read this page your eyes move irresistibly from left to right following the words that you have been accustomed to.” quote by William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/804/william-s-burroughs-528_accustomed_forward-steps-are-made-by-giving-up-old_2677711.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/804/william-s-burroughs-528_accustomed_forward-steps-are-made-by-giving-up-old_2677711.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/804/william-s-burroughs-528_accustomed_forward-steps-are-made-by-giving-up-old_2677711.jpg) > “Forward steps are made by giving up old armor because words are built into you - in the soft typewriter of the womb you do not realize the word-armor you carry; for example, when you read this page your eyes move irresistibly from left to right following the words that you have been accustomed to.” [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. We are shaped by ingrained habits and language patterns that guide our perception and actions. **In simple terms:** Habits and language steer us. Key Takeaway Become aware of hidden influences. Themes habit language perception Mood introspective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - reading comprehension - writing style - marketing messages - educational curricula Key Concepts cognitive conditioning semiotics Questions to Reflect On - What mental habits limit you? - How can you rewrite your internal narrative? A Different Perspective Changing deep-seated patterns is difficult and may meet resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accustomed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accustomed/) [Armor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armor/) [Armor Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/armor-words-2554502/) [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Following](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/following/) [Forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forward/) [Forward Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forward-steps-1860380/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-up/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) [Steps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steps/) [Typewriter Womb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/typewriter-womb-2554504/) [Typewriters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/typewriters/) [Ur Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ur-eyes/) [Womb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/womb/) [Word Armor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-armor-2554503/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/plan-backwards-as-well-as-forward-set-objectives-and-trace-back-to/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [My career has been two steps forward and three steps back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lari-white/my-career-has-been-two-steps-forward-and-three-steps-back/) [Lari White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lari-white/) > [“But what happens if we look back for support and don’t get it? We become less confident about stepping into the unknown. We succeed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-goulston/but-what-happens-if-we-look-back-for-support-and-don-t-get-it-we/) [Mark Goulston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-goulston/) > [What I did at the start of each season, regardless if I was coming back as the champion, was run indoors and take forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donovan-bailey/what-i-did-at-the-start-of-each-season-regardless-if-i-was-coming/) [Donovan Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donovan-bailey/) > [Keep moving forward, even one or two steps, in your own way. Those who live out their lives to the fullest, unperturbed by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/keep-moving-forward-even-one-or-two-steps-in-your-own-way-those-who/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [“two steps forward three steps backwards how would u get there?\_”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rain/two-steps-forward-three-steps-backwards-how-would-u-get-there/) [rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rain/) > [It's like I take one step forward two steps back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-s/it-s-like-i-take-one-step-forward-two-steps-back/) [Wendy's](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-s/) > [“In life, you take strides forward, but you always take a few steps back. But in the end, if you take more steps forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-rodrigues/in-life-you-take-strides-forward-but-you-always-take-a-few-steps-back/) [Carmen Rodrigues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-rodrigues/) > [My career before AEW was one step forward, four steps back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-kingston/my-career-before-aew-was-one-step-forward-four-steps-back/) [Eddie Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-kingston/) > [If you take three steps forward and one step back, once in a while I can live with that. If you take two steps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-izzo/if-you-take-three-steps-forward-and-one-step-back-once-in-a-while-i/) [Tom Izzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-izzo/) > [If you talk you always end up with politics, it gets nowhere. I mean man it's strictly from the soft typewriter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/if-you-talk-you-always-end-up-with-politics-it-gets-nowhere-i-mean/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [For any species to change, if they are unable and are unwilling to do so - I might, for example, have suggested to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/for-any-species-to-change-if-they-are-unable-and-are-unwilling-to-do/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [ the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. \[He\] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic-irregular-fragmentary-he/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [You get attached to the way you write, and I'm attached to notebooks. That's where I really write the plays. Just two or three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-simon/you-get-attached-to-the-way-you-write-and-i-m-attached-to-notebooks/) [Neil Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-simon/) > [To say, "Well, I write when I really get into it" is a bunch of bull. Put the paper in the typewriter, stare at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/to-say-well-i-write-when-i-really-get-into-it-is-a-bunch-of-bull-put/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) ## 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. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [When you stop growing you start dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/when-you-stop-growing-you-start-dying/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [Life is a cutup. And to pretend that you write or paint in a timeless vacuum is just simply . . . not .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/life-is-a-cutup-and-to-pretend-that-you-write-or-paint-in-a-timeless/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [When all lies, deceit, pretense is stripped away, what remains? The truth of a painting, or a book or a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/when-all-lies-deceit-pretense-is-stripped-away-what-remains-the-truth/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [“There is no final enough of wisdom, experience - any fucking thing. 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. 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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 Accustomed quotes > [We are puzzled and bewildered whenever we see suffering in this world because we have become accustomed to the mercy and the long-suffering of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/we-are-puzzled-and-bewildered-whenever-we-see-suffering-in-this-world/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There are those that say, if you do the uncomfortable thing long enough, it will become comfortable. But we are really not encouragers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/there-are-those-that-say-if-you-do-the-uncomfortable-thing-long/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [Democracy is not being well served as we're accustomed to. There is less information, there's less investigation, there's less analysis, there's less accountability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-greenspon/democracy-is-not-being-well-served-as-we-re-accustomed-to-there-is/) [Edward Greenspon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-greenspon/) > [To one who is accustomed to thinking a lot, every new thought that he hears or reads about immediately appears as a link in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/to-one-who-is-accustomed-to-thinking-a-lot-every-new-thought-that-he/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I have been in relatively high-risk businesses all of my adult life. Few of the others, however, had the possibility of direct gains in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-have-been-in-relatively-high-risk-businesses-all-of-my-adult-life/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [We have become accustomed to living our life with joy amidst pain and challenges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-reeve/we-have-become-accustomed-to-living-our-life-with-joy-amidst-pain-and/) [Dana Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-reeve/) > [Security is a component of everyday life that one spending time in Washington, D.C., gets accustomed to. Metal detectors, police vehicle barriers and heavily-armed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-crapo/security-is-a-component-of-everyday-life-that-one-spending-time-in/) [Mike Crapo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-crapo/) > [If you're a Firefox user, you get accustomed to your history and the URL bar and finding things. That should be available on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchell-baker/if-you-re-a-firefox-user-you-get-accustomed-to-your-history-and-the/) [Mitchell Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchell-baker/) > [It is amazing how soon one becomes accustomed to the sound of ones voice, when forced to repeat a speech five or six times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/it-is-amazing-how-soon-one-becomes-accustomed-to-the-sound-of-ones/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Once you grow accustomed to being famous, you do not realize it, but you are never quite your humble, honest self. No matter how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corra-may-harris/once-you-grow-accustomed-to-being-famous-you-do-not-realize-it-but/) [Corra May Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corra-may-harris/) > [I love physical kinds of comedy and getting down and dirty and doing stunts. When I was growing up, I was always getting into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-diaz/i-love-physical-kinds-of-comedy-and-getting-down-and-dirty-and-doing/) [Cameron Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-diaz/) > [Books should confuse. Literature abhors the typical. Literature flows to the particular, the mundane, the greasiness of paper, the taste of warm beer, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rodriguez/books-should-confuse-literature-abhors-the-typical-literature-flows/) [Richard Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rodriguez/) [Browse all 543 Accustomed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accustomed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Forward steps are made by giving up old armor because words are built into you - in the soft typewriter of the womb you do not realize the word-armor you carry; for example, when you read this page your eyes move irresistibly from left to right following the words that you have been accustomed to.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William S. 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