Robert Anton Wilson

Author, Philosopher

Robert Anton Wilson was a writer and philosopher known for his exploration of consciousness and reality, particularly in 'The Illuminatus! Trilogy'.

Born
January 18, 1932
Died
January 11, 2007
Quotes
219
Rank
#3313

Quote collection

Robert Anton Wilson quotes (page 2 of 11)

219 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"Money, after all, is an abstract artifact, like language - merely symbolized by the paper or coin or whatever. If you can fully grasp its abstractedness, especially in the computer age, it becomes quite clear that no group can monopolize this abstraction, except through a series of swindle. If the usurers had been bolder, they might have monopolized language as well as currency, and people would be saying we can't write more books because we don't have enough words, the way they now say we can't build starships, because we don't have enough money."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"The Western World has been brainwashed by Aristotle for the last 2,500 years. The unconscious, not quite articulate, belief of most Occidentals is that there is one map which adequately represents reality. By sheer good luck, every Occidental thinks he or she has the map that fits. Guerrilla ontology, to me, involves shaking up that certainty."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"The border between the Real and the Unreal is not fixed, but just marks the last place where rival gangs of shamans fought each other to a standstill."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"I think I got off on the wrong planet. Beam me up Scotty, there's no rational life here."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"To me, it doesn't matter if your scapegoats are the Jews, the homosexuals, the male sex, the Masons, the Jesuits, the Welfare Parasites, the Power Elite, the female sex, the vegetarians, or the Communist Party. To the extent that you need a scapegoat, you simply have not got your brain programmed to work as an efficient problem-solving machine."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"Guerrilla ontology The basic technique of all my books . Ontology is the study of being; the guerrilla approach is to so mix the elements of each book that the reader must decide on each page 'How much of this is real and how much is a put-on?"

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"under the present brutal and primitive conditions on this planet, every person you meet should be regarded as one of the walking wounded. we have never seen a man or woman not slightly deranged by either anxiety or grief. we have never seen a totally sane human being."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge Maximum Security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"I don't believe anything I write or say. I regard belief as a form of brain damage, the death of intelligence, the fracture of creativity, the atrophy of imagination. I have opinions but no Belief System (B.S.)"

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"Mind is a tool invented by the universe to see itself; but it can never see all of itself, for much the same reason that you can't see your own back (without mirrors)."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"Most people live in a myth and grow violently angry if anyone dares to tell them the truth about themselves."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"Reality is the temporary resultant of continuous struggles between rival gangs of programmers."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"Voting wouldn't excite me unless it included electing the directors of the big banks and corporations, who make the real decisions that affect our lives. It's hard to get excited about the trained seals in Washington."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"Try living forever with the metaprogram, 'Everything works out more perfectly than I plan it."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"...when dogma enters the brain, all intellectual activity ceases."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"I read at least one periodical every month by a political group I dislike - to keep some sense of balance. The overwhelming stupidity of political movements is caused by the fact that political types never read anything but their own gang's agit-prop."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"I see anarchism as the theoretical ideal to which we are all gradually evolving to a point where everybody can tell the truth to everybody else and nobody can get punished for it. That can only happen without hierarchy and without people having the authority to punish other people."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"It is a great privilege to be conscious in this universe. Those who understand, shine like stars."

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Robert Anton Wilson Author, Philosopher
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"The final war will be between Pavlov's dog and Schoedinger's Cat."

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