# Quote — William S. Burroughs, The Western Lands

> Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape.

- Author: [William S. Burroughs](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs.md)
- Book: [The Western Lands](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/the-western-lands.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_S._Burroughs#The_Western_Lands_(1987)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/the-western-lands/desperation-is-the

## More from this book

> Consider the impasse of a one-God universe. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He can't go anywhere, since He is already everywhere. He can't do anything, since the act of doing presupposes opposition. His universe is irrevocably thermodynamic, having no friction by definition. So, He has to create friction: War, Fear, Sickness, Death, to keep his dying show on the road.

p. 113 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/the-western-lands/consider-the-impasse.md)

> Now what sort of man or woman or monster would stroke a centipede I have ever seen? "And here is my good big centipede!" If such a man exists, I say kill him without more ado. He is a traitor to the human race.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/the-western-lands/now-what-sort.md)

> Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can't fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-s-burroughs/the-western-lands/cheat-your-landlord.md)