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 … 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 don’t 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.
If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather. Try to understand the blackness, lethargy, hopelessness, and loneliness they’re going through. Be there for them when they come through the other side. It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do.
For a couple with young children, divorce seldom comes as a "solution" to stress, only as a way to end one form of pain and accept another.
One of the things I really love about restaurants is that in many ways, they are the ultimate democratic institutions, where you get to walk in the door, plunk down your money, and for however long that you're there, you can be anyone you want to be.
Where there are no women there are no good manners
When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.
We're [parents]) always bluffing, pretending we know best, when most of the time we're just praying we won't screw up too badly.
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