Quotes by William S. Burroughs

Explore a curated collection of 58 quotes by William S. Burroughs. Discover timeless wisdom, insightful thoughts, and memorable words that have inspired readers around the world. Browse through the gallery below and click on any quote to read more.

There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this ris — William S. Burroughs
Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in — William S. Burroughs
A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on. — William S. Burroughs
The first and most important thing an individual can do is to become an individual again, decontrol himself, train himse — William S. Burroughs
To be an outlaw you must first have a base in law to reject and get out of, I never had such a base. I never had a place — William S. Burroughs
Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can't fake quali — William S. Burroughs
Nobody owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death. — William S. Burroughs
when I become death. Death is the seed from which I grow. — William S. Burroughs
You know, they ask me if I were on a desert island and I knew nobody would ever see what I wrote, would I go on writing. — William S. Burroughs
The dream is a spontaneous happening and therefore dangerous to a control system set-up by the non-dreamers — William S. Burroughs
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 fa — William S. Burroughs
How long does it take man to realize that he cannot want what he wants? You have to live in hell to see heaven. — William S. Burroughs
You know, they ask me if I were on a desert island and I knew nobody would ever see what I wrote, would I go on writing. — William S. Burroughs
The price an artist pays for doing what he wants is that he has to do it. — William S. Burroughs
Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game i — William S. Burroughs
Jesus Christ said 'by their fruits ye shall know them,' not by their disclaimers. — William S. Burroughs
Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a — William S. Burroughs
Thinking is not enough. Nothing is. There is no final enough of wisdom, experience--any fucking thing. No Holy Grail, No — William S. Burroughs
Language is a virus from outer space — William S. Burroughs
We intend to destroy all dogmatic verbal systems. — William S. Burroughs