Life's only choosing when to die. Life's a big postponement because the choice is so difficult. It's a tremendous relief not to have to choose.

— Anthony Burgess

Literature is the aesthetic exploitation of language

— Anthony Burgess

Look, I don't see why bad artists - I mean artists who are obviously incompetent... - why they should be presented hypocritically as good artists just because they're supposed to be advancing the frontiers of freedom of expression or... ...demonstrating that there should be no limit on subject.

— Anthony Burgess

Man does not ask for nightmares, he does not ask to be bad. He does not will his own willfulness.

— Anthony Burgess

Minister: As I was saying, Alex, you can be instrumental in changing the public verdict. Do you understand, Alex? Have I made myself clear? Alex: As an muddied lake, Fred. As clear as an azure sky of deepest summer. You can rely on me, Fred.

— Anthony Burgess

My son, my son. When I had my son I would explain all that to him when he was starry enough to like to understand. But then I knew he would not understand or would not want to understand at all and would do all the vesicles I had done, yes perhaps even killing some poor starry Fiorella surrounded with mewing lots and koshers, and I would not be able to really stop him. And nor would he be able to stop his own son, brothers. And so it would Kitty on to like the end of the world...

— Anthony Burgess

Of course, it was horrible,' smiled Dr. Branom. 'Violence is a very horrible thing. That's what you're learning now. Your body is learning it.

— Anthony Burgess

Oh? And what's so stinking about it?.

— Anthony Burgess

Our subject is, you see, impelled towards the good by, paradoxically, being impelled towards evil. The intention to act violently is accompanied by strong feelings of physical distress. To counter these the subject has to switch to a diametrically opposed attitude.

— Anthony Burgess

People don't want to know. They have to be made to know. Whether they act on what they know is up to them. But they have to know.

— Anthony Burgess