Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Children’s Books Writer, Short story, Novelist, Poet, Journalist
It is in the interests of our society to promote those things that take the edge off, keep us busy with our fixes, and keep us slightly numbed out and zombie like. In this way our modern consumer society itself functions as an addict.
—Anne Wilson Schaef (1934–2020) American Clinical Psychologist
Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
Of all that Orient lands can vaunt, of marvels with our own competing, the strangest is the Haschish plant, and what will follow on its eating.
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92) American Quaker Poet, Abolitionist
It is not opium which makes me work but its absence, and in order for me to feel its absence it must from time to time be present.
—Antonin Artaud (1896–1948) French Actor, Drama Theorist
One pill, two pill, three pill, four,
five pill, six pill, seven pill, floor.
—Anonymous
I don’t use drugs; my dreams are frightening enough.
—M. C. Escher (1898–1972) Dutch Graphic Artist
There seems to be no stopping drug frenzy once it takes hold of a nation. What starts with an innocuous HUGS, NOT DRUGS bumper sticker soon leads to wild talk of shooting dealers and making urine tests a condition for employment—anywhere.
—Barbara Ehrenreich (1941–2022) American Social Critic, Essayist
Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.
—Bob Marley (1945–81) Jamaican Musician, Singer, Songwriter
Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe, that found me poor at first, and keep me so.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
Drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to step out in front of a moving car. You would call that not a disease but an error of judgment.
—Philip K. Dick (1928–82) American Novelist, Essayist, Short Story Writer
There is only one reason why men become addicted to drugs, they are eak men. Only strong men are cured, and they cure themselves.
—Martin H. Fischer
Cocaine is God’s way of saying you’re making too much money.
—Robin Williams (b.1951) American Actor, Comedian
Drugs are not always necessary, but belief in recovery always is.
—Norman Cousins (1912–1990) American Political Journalist
If even a small fraction of the money we now spend on trying to enforce drug prohibition were devoted to treatment and drug rehabilitation, in an atmosphere of compassion not punishment, the reduction in drug usage and in the harm done to users could be dramatic.
—Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American Economist
Under the pressure of the cares and sorrows of our mortal condition, men have at all times, and in all countries, called in some physical aid to their moral consolations—wine, beer, opium, brandy, or tobacco.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
Only one thing is certain: if pot is legalized, it won’t be for our benefit but for the authorities . To have it legalized will also be to lose control of it.
—Germaine Greer (b.1939) Australia Academic, Journalist, Scholar, Writer
Today’s students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude.
—Jesse Jackson (b.1941) American Baptist Civil Rights Activist, Minister
Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal. Drugs, alcohol, or lies. Unable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort.
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) French Poet, Playwright, Film Director
A fool who, after plain warning, persists in dosing himself with dangerous drugs should be free to do so, for his death is a benefit to the race in general.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic.
—Salvador Dali (1904–89) Spanish Painter
Reality is just a crutch for people who can’t cope with drugs.
—Robin Williams (b.1951) American Actor, Comedian
Thou hast the keys of Paradise, oh just, subtle, and mighty opium!
—Thomas de Quincey (1785–1859) English Essayist, Critic
I don’t respond well to mellow, you know what I mean, I have a tendency to… if I get too mellow, I ripen and then rot.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that’s making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?
—John Lennon (1940–80) British Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Activist
Opiate. An unlocked door in the prison of Identity. It leads into the jail yard.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
If you think dope is for kicks and for thrills, you’re out of your mind. There are more kicks to be had in a good case of paralytic polio or by living in an iron lung. If you think you need stuff to play music or sing, you’re crazy. It can fix you so you can’t play nothing or sing nothing.
—Billie Holiday (1915–59) American Jazz Singer
The human mind is capable of excitement without the application of gross and violent stimulants; and he must have a very faint perception of its beauty and dignity who does not know this.
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Poet
A drug is neither moral nor immoral—it’s a chemical compound. The compound itself is not a menace to society until a human being treats it as if consumption bestowed a temporary license to act like an asshole.
—Frank Zappa (1940–93) American Rock Guitarist, Singer, Composer
Woe to you, my Princess, when I come… you shall see who is the stronger, a gentle little girl who doesn’t eat enough or a big wild man who has cocaine in his body.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
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