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I’m creating an imaginary — it’s always imaginary — world in which I would like to live.

William S. Burroughs

When you cut into the present the future leaks out.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Future Leak Present Yourself
No one is ever really alone. You are part of everything alive.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Alive Alone Yourself
Panic is the sudden realization that everything around you is alive.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Alive Panic Realize Science Sudden Yourself
People have nothing to say, but they are afraid of saying nothing, so what they do say comes out flat and vapid and meaningless. The shadow of death is on every face.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Afraid Face Meaning People Shadow
I’m creating an imaginary — it’s always imaginary — world in which I would like to live.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Creation Imagination Live Myself World
What does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and, above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and sh*ts quantity.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Creativity Eat Machine Money Quality Spontaneous Youth
Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Change Knowledge Reality Yourself
In the U.S., you have to be a deviant or die of boredom.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Boredom Country Die
(1) Never give anything away for nothing. (2) Never give more than you have to give (always catch the buyer hungry and always make him wait). (3) Always take everything back if you possibly can.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Amount Business Mindset Rule Yourself
Too perfect to be sexually attractive.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Attractive Perfection Sexuality
Political conflicts are merely surface manifestations. If conflicts arise you may be sure that certain powers intend to keep this conflict under operation since they hope to profit from the situation.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Conflict Hope Manifestation Operation Politics Profit Situation Surface Yourself
Smash the control images. Smash the control machine.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Control Image Machine
After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say ‘I want to see the manager.’
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Alien Appearance Funny Manager Myself Planet See Space Yourself
I’m definitely antiscientist because I feel that science represents a conspiracy to impose as the real and only universe, the universe of scientists themselves – they’re reality-addicts, they’ve got to have things so real so they can get their hands on it.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Feeling Hands Myself Reality Representation Science Universe
There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defense or reserve.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Defense Feeling Intense Love Reserve Risk
What a horrible loutish planet this is. the dominant species consists of sadistic morons, faces bearing the hideous lineaments of spiritual famine swollen with stupid hate. Hopeless rubbish.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Dominant Face Hate Hide Hope Horrible Planet Spiritual Stupidity
Nothing exists until or unless it is observed. An artist is making something exist by observing it. And his hope for other people is that they will also make it exist by observing it. I call it ‘creative observation.’ Creative viewing.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Artist Creativity Existence Hope Myself Observation People View
After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Gun Innocent People Weapon
After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn’t do it. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Hell Myself People Police Weapon
There is no line between the ‘real world’ and ‘world of myth and symbol.’ Objects, sensations, hit with the impact of hallucination.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Hallucination Impact Reality Symbol World
We must all face the fact that our leaders are certifiably insane or worse.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Face Fact Government Insane Leadership Worse
There’s no place for impractical dreamers around here.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Dreams Place Practice
I project myself out through the glasses and across the street, a ghost in the morning sunlight, torn with disembodied lust.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Ghost Lust Morning Myself Project Sunlight
The nonconformist here may be “beat down” by life but still has a beauty in his or her longing for freedom and for an awakening of the mind.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Awakening Defeat Freedom Life Mindset
Whether you like it or not, you are committed to the human endeavor. I cannot ally myself with such a purely negative goal as avoidance of suffering. Suffering is a chance you take by the fact of being alive.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Alive Avoid Commitment Fact Goal Human Myself Negative Suffering
If, after spending time with a person, you feel as though you’ve lost a quart of plasma, avoid that person in the future.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Avoid Future Person Time Yourself
In my writing I am acting as a map maker, an explorer of psychic areas, a cosmonaut of inner space, and I see no point in exploring areas that have already been thoroughly surveyed.
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

Act Areas Explorer Myself Point Space Survey Writing

I’m creating an imaginary — it’s always imaginary — world in which I would like to live.

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I’m creating an imaginary — it’s always imaginary — world in which I would like to live.

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