More Quotes by William S. Burroughs
Paranoia is just having the right information.
How long does it take man to realize that he cannot want what he wants? You have to live in hell to see heaven.
Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.
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.
Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.
One very important aspect of art is that it makes people aware of what they know and don’t know they know... Once the breakthrough is made, there is a permanent expansion of awareness. But there is always a reaction of rage, of outrage, at the first breakthrough... So the artist, then, expands awareness. And once the breakthrough is made, this becomes part of the general awareness.
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.
Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.
You were given the power to love in order to use it, no matter what pain it may cause you.
We must all face the fact that our leaders are certifiably insane or worse
