"Brainwashing, psychotropic drugs, lobotomy, and other more subtle form of psychosurgery; the technocratic control apparatus of the United States has at its fingertips new techniques if which fully exploited could make Orwell's 1984 seem like a benevolent utopia."

William S. Burroughs Literature See all quotes by William S. Burroughs →

React to this quote

More by William S. Burroughs

“Naropa Audio Archives: William S. Burroughs class on the technology and ethic of wishing Streaming audio and 64 kbit/s MP3 ZIP file.”

“Beat — A film based on his and Joan Burroughs's life leading up to her death.”

“1. Never give anything away for nothing. 2. Never give more than you have to . 3. Always take back everything if you possibly can.”

“Naropa Audio Archives: William S. Burroughs lecture on public discourse. Streaming audio and 64 kbit/s MP3 ZIP file.”

“A ghost in daylight on a crowded street.”

“Hustlers of the world, there is one Mark you cannot beat: The Mark Inside.”

Resonant Thoughts

"I looked down the long lines of waving black plumes and stern faces beneath them, and sighed to think that within one short hour most, if not all, of those magnificent veteran warriors, not a man of w…"

— H. Rider Haggard

Literature1856–1925

#time

"Hitler also anticipated modern economic policy . . . by recognizing that a rapid approach to full employment was only possible if it was combined with wage and price controls. That a nation oppressed …"

— John Kenneth Galbraith

Politics1908–2006

#power

"I was a few months out of office when the invasion of Iraq took place in March 2003. Had I still been governor, I might have been the only one who opposed it. It had to do with the fact that we were l…"

— Jesse Ventura

Politics1951

#power

"You would like to think someone would just take their punishment like they should take their punishment and not try to spread it to other people. It could be entrapment. It could be ensnaring somebody…"

— Roderick Sawyer

Politics1963

#justice