William S. Burroughs

“No one owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death.”

“Most of the trouble in this world has been caused by folks who can't mind their own business, because they have no business of their own to mind, any more than a smallpox virus has.”

“You must learn to exist with no religion, no country, no allies. You must learn to live alone in silence.”

“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”

“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.”

“Happiness is a byproduct of function, purpose, and conflict; those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war.”

“Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.”

“The way to kill a man or a nation is to cut off his dreams, the way the whites are taking care of the Indians: killing their dreams, their magic, their familiar spirits.”

“Language is a virus from outer space.”

“Virtue is simply happiness, and happiness is a by-product of function. You are happy when you are functioning.”

“Silence is only frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing.”