I never took hallucinogenic drugs because I never wanted my consciousness expanded one unnecessary iota.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a skepticism towards substances that alter consciousness.
Fran Lebowitz's quote highlights her preference for a grounded reality over the altered perceptions that come from hallucinogenic drugs. She suggests that even the slightest expansion of consciousness is unnecessary for her, indicating a belief in the sufficiency of her natural state of mind.
In practice
During a discussion about substance use and its effects on perception.
Your responsibility as a parent is not as great as you might imagine. You need not supply the world with the next conqueror of disease or major motion picture star. If your child simply grows up to be someone who does not use the word "collectible" as a noun, you can consider yourself an unqualified success.
You should make it hard on yourself to write so you’re easier to read.
Special-interest publications should realize that if they are attracting enough advertising and readers to make a profit, the interest is not so special.
I place a high moral value on the way people behave. I find it repellent to have a lot, and to behave with anything other than courtesy in the old sense of the word - politeness of the heart, a gentleness of the spirit.
I must take issue with the term 'a mere child,' for it has been my invariable experience that the company of a mere child is infinitely preferable to that of a mere adult.
Original thought is like original sin: both happened before you were born to people you could not have possibly met.
...I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire...I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it. Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.
The propriety of a law, in a constitutional light, must always be determined by the nature of the powers upon which it is founded.
What seest thou else_x000D_ _x000D_ In the dark backward and abysm of time?
Our true passions are selfish.
Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.
After all, if freedom of speech means anything, it means a willingness to stand and let people say things with which we disagree, and which do weary us considerably.
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