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Quotes of the day
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Published Tuesday, February 05, 2013 @ 1:47 AM EST
Feb 05 2013

Quotes of the day- William S. Burroughs:
 
William Seward Burroughs II (February 5, 1914 - August 2, 1997) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th century." His influence is considered to have affected a range of popular culture as well as literature. Burroughs wrote 18 novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays. Five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, and made many appearances in films.

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A functioning police state needs no police.

A paranoid man is a man who knows a little about what's going on.

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

And if you're doing a deal with a religious son of a bitch, get it in writing.

As soon as you know you are in prison, you have a possibility to escape.

Be just and if you can't be just, be arbitrary.

Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.

Every man has inside himself a parasitic being who is acting not at all to his advantage.

Happiness is a byproduct of function, purpose, and conflict; those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war.

I am getting so far out one day I won't come back at all.

I think that Richard Nixon will go down in history as a true folk hero, who struck a vital blow to the whole diseased concept of the revered image and gave the American virtue of irreverence and skepticism back to the people.

If I had my way we'd sleep every night all wrapped around each other like hibernating rattlesnakes.

If, after spending time with a person, you feel as though you've lost a quart of plasma, avoid that person in the future.

In deep sadness there is no place for sentimentality.

In the U.S. you have to be a deviant or die of boredom.

Language is a virus from outer space.

Man has sold his soul for time, language, tools, weapons, and dominance.

Nobody owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death.

Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted.

Our national drug is alcohol. We tend to regard the use of any other drug with special horror.

Paranoia means having all the facts.

Perhaps all pleasure is only relief.

Son, never listen to a priest or a policeman- the only thing they have the key to is the shithouse.

Thanks, for a country where nobody is allowed to mind his own business. Thanks, for a nation of finks.

The American uppermiddle-class citizen is a composite of negatives. He is largely delineated by what he is not.

The young are an alien species. They won't replace us by revolution. They will forget and ignore us out of existence.

Whether you sniff it smoke it eat it or shove it up your ass the result is the same: addiction.

Writers, like elephants, have long, vicious memories. There are things I wish I could forget.

You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative.


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