Quotations From WILLIAM BURROUGHS

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• 21.

  Black magic operates most effectively in preconscious, marginal areas. Casual curses are the most effective.

  William Burroughs (b. 1914), U.S. author. The Western Lands, ch. 3 (1987).
  
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• 22.

  This is a war universe. War all the time. That is its nature. There may be other universes based on all sorts of other principles, but ours seems to be based on war and games.

  William Burroughs (b. 1914), U.S. author. repr. In Painting and Guns, in a slightly different form (1992). "The War Universe," first published in Grand Street, no. 37 (New York, 1992). Taped conversation.
  
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• 23.

  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 Burroughs (b.1914), U.S. author. The Naked Lunch, introduction (1959). The basic principles of dealing heroin.
• 24.

  Junk is the ideal product ... the ultimate merchandise. No sales talk necessary. The client will crawl through a sewer and beg to buy.

  William Burroughs (b. 1914), U.S. author. The Naked Lunch, introduction (1959).
• 25.

  Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination.

  William Burroughs (b. 1914), U.S. author. "The Hundred Year Plan," The Adding Machine (1985).
  
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