"My present orientation is diametrically opposed [to], therefore perhaps progression from, Buddhism. I say we are here in human form to learn by the human hieroglyphics of love and suffering. There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defence or reserve."
William S Burroughs - Letter to Jack Kerouac - 24 May 1954
Source: James Grauerholz - Nothing is True: William Burroughs and Buddhism – Tricycle Magazine SPRING 2001
"He said many things some of which can be told and these are: you need someone to entrust you with their heart, Isabelle; to entrust it while knowing that you may break it, callously or carelessly. You deserve a man who can see this possibility and yet still give you his heart, wholly and completely. You know: all love is contingent upon that trust and also upon risk, and the very existence of love brings with it the knowledge that even the greatest love must also come to an end. So Winnie wrote and these words were of some comfort to him, for they showed him that his pain was direct evidence that he had loved Isabelle without any reservation, and that there was nothing in heaven or hell that could contradict this fact, and this knowledge grew in the heart that beat within him and his heart swelled a hundredfold with sadness and wisdom and a strange sore thankfulness..."
P. Julian - Lightbringer - 2018 CS Edition p. 49-50
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