I read a lot of books for information, like doctor books, spy books. . . . William S. Burroughs More Quotes by William S. Burroughs More Quotes From William S. Burroughs I project myself out through the glasses and across the street, a ghost in the morning sunlight, torn with disembodied lust. William S. Burroughs glasseslustmorning To be an outlaw you must first have a base in law to reject and get out of, I never had such a base. I never had a place I could call home that meant any more than a key to a house, apartment or hotel room. ... Am I alien? Alien from what exactly? Perhaps my home is my dream city, more real than my waking life precisely because it has no relation to waking life. William S. Burroughs realdreamhome We should exterminate all rational thought. William S. Burroughs rational-thoughtrationalshould All abilities are paid for with disabilities. perfect health may entail the heavy toll of bovine stupidity. insight into one area involves blind spots in another. William S. Burroughs honestypainvoice He asked if i wouldn't like to live completely without problems, say in greece maybe, nice climate, everything provided? i say: "when we find out what we are actually doing and who we actually are, that is the point of living...it may be only a few seconds...a few seconds of significant actions, out of a lifetime. William S. Burroughs climatenicemay A doctor is not criticized for describing the manifestations and symptoms of an illness, even though the symptoms may be disgusting. I feel that a writer has the right to the same freedom In fact, I think that the time has come for the line between literature and science, a purely arbitrary line, to be erased. William S. Burroughs doctorslinesthinking Naked Lunch was from about a thousand pages of material. A lot of it overflowed, then, into the cut-up trilogy including Nova Express. William S. Burroughs nakedlunchcutting O death where is thy sting? The man is never on time. William S. Burroughs beat-generationmen Writers, like elephants, have long, vicious memories. There are things I wish I could forget. William S. Burroughs elephantsmemorieslong Like most qualities, cuteness is delineated by what it isn't. Most people aren't cute at all, or if so they quickly outgrow their cuteness ... Elegance, grace, delicacy, beauty, and a lack of self-consciousness: a creature who knows he is cute soon isn't. William S. Burroughs catselfcute You do an awful lot of bad writing in order to do any good writing. Incredibly bad. I think it would be very interesting to make a collection of some of the worst writing by good writers. William S. Burroughs writingorderthinking The cat does not offer services. The cat offers itself. Of course he wants care and shelter. You don't buy love for nothing. William S. Burroughs catcaredoe Danger is a very rare commodity in these times, monopolized by intelligence agencies and William S. Burroughs commodityagencydanger Junk is the ideal product... the ultimate merchandise. No sales talk necessary. The client will crawl through a sewer and beg to buy. William S. Burroughs junkclientsdrug Like all pure creatures, cats are practical. William S. Burroughs individualismcatpet Hemingway was a prisoner of his style. No one can talk like the characters in Hemingway except the characters in Hemingway. His style in the wildest sense finally killed him. William S. Burroughs prisonerstylecharacter Cheat your landlord if you can -- and must -- but do not try to shortchange the Muse. William S. Burroughs musechangetrying Junk turns the user into a plant. Plants do not feel pain since pain has no function in a stationary organism. Junk is a pain killer. A plant has no libido in the human or animal sense. Junk replaces the sex drive. Seeding is the sex of the plant and the function of opium is to delay seeding. Perhaps the intense discomfort of withdrawal is the transition from plant back to animal, from a painless, sexless, timeless state back to sex and pain and time, from death back to life. William S. Burroughs painanimalsex Our national drug is alcohol. We tend to regard the use of any other drug with special horror. William S. Burroughs funny-sarcasticdrugalcohol 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 and freedom of thought. William S. Burroughs advancementorganizationneeds
