William S. Burroughs

Naked Lunch, Beat writer

Modern influential 92 sayings

Sayings by William S. Burroughs

Language is a virus from outer space.

1962 — The Ticket That Exploded
Strange & Unusual Confirmed

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

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Rub out the word. Rub out the word.

1962 — The Ticket That Exploded
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The best way to get rid of an enemy is to make him a friend.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

There are no good or bad drugs. There are only good or bad users.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The word is a virus that creates its own reality.

1970 — The Electronic Revolution
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Artists are the antennae of the race.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Disgust is the appropriate response to the world.

1959 — Naked Lunch
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The only way to escape the matrix is to cut yourself off from it.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The war will be won in the streets.

1953 — Junkie
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I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking.

Various — Attributed to Christopher Isherwood, but often referenced by Burroughs in his discussions of objecti…
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

Smash the control images. Smash the control machine.

1962 — The Ticket That Exploded
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The function of the artist is to make the audience dream.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The only way to be truly free is to be yourself.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The most important thing is to keep your mind open.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The future is not what it used to be.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The only way to learn is to do.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The world is a dangerous place, and we are all in it together.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

1980s — Interview
Strange & Unusual Unverifiable

A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what’s going on.

1959 — From 'Naked Lunch', his experimental novel
Strange & Unusual Confirmed