William S Burroughs Quote Buttons 1.25” Language Virus Exterminate True Nothing

Description

WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS
Three Quote Repro Buttons
This listing is for three 1.25" pinback buttons with famous quotes from cult underground author William S. Burroughs.
Nothing Is True Everything Is Permitted
- The slogan was supposedly coined by Hassan-i Sabbah in the 11th century; he was the leader of the original (and real and historical!) Guild of Assassins, the Hashshashin. Burroughs was fascinated by the story of Hassan-i-Sabbah and included the motto, "Nothing is true; everything is permitted," and many references to the work in his 1959 post-modern novel, "Naked Lunch." A novel about Sabbah's life, 'Alamut,' was the basis for the popular videogame Assassin's Creed.
Language Is A Virus From Outer Space
- A virus operates autonomously, without human intervention. It attaches itself to a host and feeds off of it, growing and spreading from host to host. Language infects us; its power derives not from its straightforward ability to communicate or persuade but rather from this infectious nature, this power of bits of language to graft itself onto other bits of language, spreading and reproducing, using human beings as hosts.
Exterminate All Rational Thought
- Said by the protagonist of "Naked Lunch."
William S. Burroughs was a great Beat author whose novels include "Naked Lunch" (adapted into a film with David Cronenberg), "Junkie," "Queer," Port of Saints" and "The Last Words of Dutch Schultz." He wrote frankly and graphically of being gay and of being a drug addict. He once failed to shoot an apple off his common-law wife's head, killing her in the process.
Burroughs is often called one of the greatest and most influential writers of the 20th century, most notably by Norman Mailer whose quote on Burroughs, "The only American novelist living today who may conceivably be possessed by genius", appears on many Burroughs publications. Others consider his concepts and attitude more influential than his prose. Prominent admirers of Burroughs's work have included British critic and biographer Peter Ackroyd, the rock critic Lester Bangs, the philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the authors J. G. Ballard, Angela Carter, Jean Genet, William Gibson, Alan Moore, Kathy Acker and Ken Kesey. Burroughs had a profound influence on the German writer Carl Weissner, who in addition to being his German translator was a novelist in his own right and frequently wrote cut-up texts in a manner reminiscent of Burroughs.
He was also a painter and a photographer.
Wear these buttons while entering the Interzone, while sharing your last fix, or while traveling overseas to avoid legal complications.
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Pin back on each button.
US penny for scale.
Penny and ruler NOT included.