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
Controversial Unverifiable

The only way to understand something is to experience it.

1970s — Interview
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1990s — Interview
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1953 — Junkie
Controversial Unverifiable

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

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1959 — Naked Lunch
Controversial Unverifiable

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

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

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

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

The only sane way to live is to be insane.

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1950s — Interview
Controversial Unverifiable

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

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

The only way to be free is to be dead.

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1980s — Interview
Controversial Unverifiable

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

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1990s — Interview
Controversial Unverifiable

The only way to find yourself is to lose yourself.

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

The only way to create is to destroy.

Unknown — Attributed
Controversial Unverifiable

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

1959 — From 'Naked Lunch'
Humorous Unverifiable

Artists are there to disturb the peace.

1969 — From 'The Job'
Humorous 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.
Humorous Unverifiable