My relationship with cats has saved me from a deadly and pervasive ignorance.
Interpretation
Burroughs suggests that his bond with cats has provided him with important life insights and awareness.
In this quote, William S. Burroughs expresses how his connection with cats has not only enriched his life but has also acted as a catalyst for personal growth and understanding. He suggests that the companionship of these animals has enlightened him in ways that he considers crucial for overcoming ignorance, indicating that relationships with other beings can profoundly influence our perspectives and knowledge of the world.
In practice
During a discussion about the impact of pets on mental health, this quote can illustrate the positive influence of animal companionship.
God save the Queen and a fascist regime β¦ a flabby toothless fascism, to be sure. Never go too far in any direction, is the basic law on which Limey-Land is built. The Queen stabilizes the whole sinking shithouse and keeps a small elite of wealth and privilege on top. The English have gone soft in the outhouse. England is like some stricken beast too stupid to know it is dead. Ingloriously foundering in its own waste products, the backlash and bad karma of empire
Like most qualities, cuteness is delineated by what it isn't. Most people aren't cute at all, or if so they quickly outgrow their cuteness ... Elegance, grace, delicacy, beauty, and a lack of self-consciousness: a creature who knows he is cute soon isn't.
There is nothing more provocative than minding your own business.
Gentle reader, the Fountain of Youth is radioactive, and those who imbibe its poisonous heavy waters will suffer the hideous fate of decaying metal. Yet almost without exception, the wretched idiot inhabitants of our benighted planet would gulp down this radioactive excrement if it were offered.
Language is a virus from outer space.
One very important aspect of art is that it makes people aware of what they know and donβt know they know... Once the breakthrough is made, there is a permanent expansion of awareness. But there is always a reaction of rage, of outrage, at the first breakthrough... So the artist, then, expands awareness. And once the breakthrough is made, this becomes part of the general awareness.
The single most important factor in our long-term happiness is the relationships we have with our family and close friends.
it's good to know who hates you and it is good to be hated by the right people
He was one of those quite rare adults who communicate with small children fairly well and who love them all impartially--not in a sugary way but in a businesslike fashion that may sometimes entail a hug, in the same way that closing a big business deal may call for a handshake.
When the mind sees itself in the mirror of relationship, from that perception there is self-knowledge.
Here's my Golden Rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others, but keep after them until they're fair with you.
What, my dear Lady Disdain! are you yet living? Beatrice: Is it possible disdain should die while she hath such meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick?
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