Well, "disgusting" doesn't refer to the books but to the subjective reaction of the person making the complaint. I don't think that anything is disgusting per se. These words "disgusting" and "filthy," etc., have prevented us from undertaking any scientific experimentation in sexual matters.

William S. Burroughs

Categorized in : Thinking Book Matter

We must all face the fact that our leaders are certifiably insane or worse

William S. Burroughs

insane leader faces

What does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and, above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and sh*ts quantity.

William S. Burroughs

creativity quality doe

I am not one of those weak-spirited, sappy Americans who want to be liked by all the people around them. I don’t care if people hate my guts; I assume most of them do. The important question is whether they are in a position to do anything about it. My affections, being concentrated over a few people, are not spread all over Hell in a vile attempt to placate sulky, worthless shits.

William S. Burroughs

hate positive people

After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say 'I want to see the manager.'

William S. Burroughs

hilarious witty funny

Build a good name. Keep your name clean. Don't make compromises. Don't worry about making a bunch of money or being successful. Be concerned with doing good work and make the right choices and protect your work. And if you can build a good name, eventually, that name will be its own currency.

William S. Burroughs

successful names worry

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 to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military.

William S. Burroughs

gun military people

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.

William S. Burroughs

crazy caring inspirational

I detest limitations of any kind, and intend to establish my ass some place where I am a virgin on the police blotter.

William S. Burroughs

ass police kind

Most of the trouble in this world has been caused by folks who can't mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus has.

William S. Burroughs

atheism business mind

After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it.

William S. Burroughs

second-amendment gun people

God save the Queen and a fascist regime … a flabby toothless fascism, to be sure. Never go too far in any direction, is the basic law on which Limey-Land is built. The Queen stabilizes the whole sinking shithouse and keeps a small elite of wealth and privilege on top. The English have gone soft in the outhouse. England is like some stricken beast too stupid to know it is dead. Ingloriously foundering in its own waste products, the backlash and bad karma of empire

William S. Burroughs

karma queens stupid

I think anybody incapable of changing his mind is crazy.

William S. Burroughs

crazy mind thinking

The first and most important thing an individual can do is to become an individual again, decontrol himself, train himself as to what is going on and win back as much independent ground for himself as possible

William S. Burroughs

independent philosophy art

To concern yourself with surface political conflicts is to make the mistake of the bull in the ring, you are charging the cloth. That is what politics is for, to teach you the cloth. Just as the bullfighter teaches the bull, teaches him to follow, obey the cloth.

William S. Burroughs

bulls political mistake

The best way to keep something bad from happening is to see it ahead of time... and you can't see it if you refuse to face the possibility.

William S. Burroughs

faces reality way

You must learn to exist with no religion, no country, no allies. You must learn to live alone in silence.

William S. Burroughs

allies silence country

In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen. The dogma of science is that the will cannot possibly affect external forces, and I think that’s just ridiculous. It’s as bad as the church. My viewpoint is the exact contrary of the scientific viewpoint. I believe that if you run into somebody in the street it’s for a reason.

William S. Burroughs

running believe thinking

How I hate those who are dedicated to producing conformity.

William S. Burroughs

i-hate conformity hate

Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.

William S. Burroughs

real change art

The cat does not offer services. The cat offers itself.

William S. Burroughs

cat pet doe