"Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole."

Time

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Time as articulated by William S. Burroughs. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Time provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a postmodern author who influenced underground and popular culture and literature. Much of Burroughs's work is experimental and features unreliable narrators. Also noted as semi-autobiographical, his work often drew from his experiences with drug addiction, and featured his various places of residence as settings in much of his work. With Brion Gysin, Burroughs popularized the cut-up, an aleatory literary technique. His writing also engaged frequent mystical, occult, or otherwise magical themes, constant preoccupations in his fiction and real life.

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More by William S. Burroughs

"Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer."

— William S. Burroughs
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"In deep sadness there is no place for sentimentality."

— William S. Burroughs
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"The way to kill a man or a nation is to cut off his dreams, the way the whites are taking care of the Indians: killing their dreams, their magic, their familiar spirits."

— William S. Burroughs
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"Like all pure creatures, cats are practical."

— William S. Burroughs
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More about Time

"Winning is overrated. The only time it is really important is in surgery and war."

— Al McGuire
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"Putting a little time aside for clean fun and good humor is very necessary to relieve the tensions of our time."

— Hattie McDaniel
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"There is one criticism which cannot be leveled at interparliamentary conferences but which is applicable to a great extent to peace congresses: the meetings waste time."

— Fredrik Bajer
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