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William S. Burroughs Quotes about Giving

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(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.

(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
Giving, Waiting, Hungry

I have no message to give the politicians of the world. They're all completely addicted to promiscuous verbalization and I'm quite sure they would not be at all interested in hearing about cut-ups and hieroglyphics and still less interested to hear about silence.

William S. Burroughs
Cutting, Giving, Silence
William S. Burroughs (2001). “Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997”, Semiotext

England has the most sordid literary scene I've ever seen. They all meet in the same pub. This guy's writing a foreword for this person. They all have to give radio programs, they have to do all this just in order to scrape by. They're all scratching each other's backs.

William S. Burroughs
Writing, Order, Giving
Forbes Magazine (p. 172), April 2, 2001.

If all individuals were conditioned to machine efficiency in the performance of their duties there would have to be at least one person outside the machine to give the necessary orders; if the machine absorbed or eliminated all those outside the machine, the machine will slow down and stop forever.

William S. Burroughs
Order, Giving, Forever
Source: realitystudio.org

Strip your psyche to the bare bones of spontaneous process, and you give yourself one chance in a thousand to make the Pass.

William S. Burroughs
Giving, Chance, Bones
William S. Burroughs (2007). “Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader”, p.134, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

Junk takes everything and gives nothing but insurance against junk sickness.

William S. Burroughs
Giving, Junk, Sickness
William S. Burroughs (2007). “Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader”, p.66, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

Any belief in Creators or Purpose is wishful thinking. And when you point out that perhaps ALL thinking is wishful, reactions of intense irritation give evidence that we are not dealing with logic but with faith.

William S. Burroughs
Thinking, Irritation, Giving
William S. Burroughs (2013). “The Adding Machine”, p.121, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

For instance, they [The Federal Narcotics Bureau ] give out that marijuana is a harmful and habit-forming drug, and it simply isn't. They claim that you can get addicted to opiates with one shot, and you can't. They over-estimate the physical bad effects, and so forth.

William S. Burroughs
Marijuana, Giving, Drug
William S. Burroughs (2001). “Burroughs Live: The Collected Interviews of William S. Burroughs, 1960-1997”, Semiotext

A John is different from a sucker. When you're with a sucker you're on alert all the time. You give him nothing. A sucker is just to be taken but a John is different. You give him what he pays for. When you're with him you enjoy yourself and you want him to enjoy himself too.

William S. Burroughs
Taken, Giving, Want Him

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