Portrait of William S. Burroughs

William S. Burroughs

Naked Lunch, Beat writer

Modern influential 92 sayings

Sayings by William S. Burroughs

The only way to be truly original is to be truly insane.

Unknown — Attributed
General Unverifiable

The only way to understand something is to experience it.

1970s — Interview
General Unverifiable

I'm not a teacher. I'm a student.

1990s — Interview
General Unverifiable

The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.

1953 — Junkie
General Unverifiable

There are no innocent bystanders. What are these people doing in the way?

Unknown — Attributed
General Unverifiable

The junk merchant observes the land. Junk is not a product like other products. Junk is a way of life.

1959 — Naked Lunch
General Unverifiable

The most dangerous thing in the world is to be alive.

Unknown — Attributed
General Unverifiable

I am a walking, talking, breathing, living, dying, eating, shitting, fucking, dreaming, thinking, feeling, being.

Unknown — Attributed
General Unverifiable

The only sane way to live is to be insane.

Unknown — Attributed
General Unverifiable

I am a criminal. I am a writer. I am a junkie. I am a human being.

1950s — Interview
General Unverifiable

The only way to be a hero is to be a villain.

Unknown — Attributed
General Unverifiable

The only way to be free is to be dead.

Unknown — Attributed
General Unverifiable

I am a vampire. I am a junkie. I am a writer.

1980s — Interview
General Unverifiable

The only way to escape the past is to embrace it.

Unknown — Attributed
Social & Racial Unverifiable

I am a ghost. I am a writer. I am a junkie.

1990s — Interview
General Unverifiable

The only way to find yourself is to lose yourself.

Unknown — Attributed
General Unverifiable

The only way to create is to destroy.

Unknown — Attributed
War & Violence Unverifiable

After a sex experience, you are either a man or a woman. Not both.

1959 — From 'Naked Lunch'
General Unverifiable

Artists are there to disturb the peace.

1969 — From 'The Job'
General Unverifiable

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul will grow sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.

Undetermined — Often misattributed to him, but a common theme in his work, originally by Oscar Wilde.
General Unverifiable
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