The idea that addiction is somehow a psychological illness is, I think, totally ridiculous. It’s as psychological as malaria. It’s a matter of exposure. People, generally speaking, will take any intoxicant or any drug that gives them a pleasant effect if it is available to them. William S Burroughs
Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape. William S Burroughs
Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact. William S Burroughs
Our national drug is alcohol. We tend to regard the use any other drug with special horror. William S Burroughs
You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal. William S Burroughs
A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what’s going on. William S Burroughs
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
Black magic operates most effectively in preconscious, marginal areas. Casual curses are the most effective. William S Burroughs
There couldn’t be a society of people who didn’t dream. They’d be dead in two weeks. William S Burroughs