For him, conscious intent was a form of prediction, and prediction is only possible when the status quo has reason to assume it will meet no signific… - William S. Burroughs

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For him, conscious intent was a form of prediction, and prediction is only possible when the status quo has reason to assume it will meet no significant opposition.

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About William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II (5 February 1914 – 2 August 1997), more commonly known as William S. Burroughs, was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer. Much of Burroughs' work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life. He was a central member of the Beat Generation and an avant-garde author who influenced popular culture as well as literature. In 1984 he was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Revista Panorama Número 297 de Enero, 1973. (Public domain / CC0)

Also Known As

Pen Names: Willy a William Lee
Alternative Names: William Seward Burroughs II William Lee William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs Willy Lee

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Additional quotes by William S. Burroughs

An experience most deeply felt is the most difficult to convey in words. Remembering brings the emptiness, the acutely painful awareness of irreparable loss. ...Every time I see the grave, I get that empty feeling where something was, and isn't anymore, and will never be again.

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Nothing exists until or unless it is observed. An artist is making something exist by observing it. And his hope for other people is that they will also make it exist by observing it. I call it 'creative observation.' Creative viewing.

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