Turn on" meant… become sensitive to the many and various levels of consciousness and the specific triggers that engage them; drugs were one way to accomplish this end. "Tune in" meant interact harmoniously with the world around you,… express your new internal perspectives. "Drop out" suggested an active, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments.… Unhappily my explanations of this sequence of personal development were often misinterpreted to mean, "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity.

About Timothy Leary

Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for strongly advocating psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". According to poet Allen Ginsberg, he was "a hero of American consciousness", while writer Tom Robbins...

More quotations from Timothy Leary

What is most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.

—Timothy Leary

men and women

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.

—Timothy Leary

humor feminism

History

8 Nov 2015 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

Turn on" meant . . . become sensitive to the many and various levels of consciousness and the specific triggers that engage them; drugs were one way to accomplish this end. "Tune in" meant interact harmoniously with the world around you, . . . express your new internal perspectives. "Drop out" suggested an active, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments. . . . Unhappily my explanations of this sequence of personal development were often misinterpreted to mean, "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity.