William Leonard Pickard

William Leonard Pickard (born October 21, 1945) is one of two people convicted in the largest lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) manufacturing case in history. He wrote The Rose of Paracelsus: On Secrets and Sacraments while incarcerated.

The Rose of Paracelsus (2015)

 * There is fission then fusion of thought and feeling, as forgiveness for all blasts heavenward. Dissolute chaos renders to absolute certainty; wrenching ignominy and confusion transmute to clarity and peace. The tranquil vales of Elysium are welcoming us.
 * p. 19


 * I dress, act, and speak quite conservatively, striving to be forgettable, to leave no memory. One must be a gray man, perhaps a mild accountant of little means, to hide without a trace personal responsibility for the ecstacies, the orgasmic religiosities in millions of minds.
 * p. 21


 * Remember not to let your head get too far from your heart.
 * p. 64


 * It would be naïve to conclude there are no unknown extra-dimensional fields. Writing his equations by a whale oil lamp, Maxwell characterized electromagnetism. Newton's gravity was discarded by Leibnitz as occult.
 * p. 119


 * We bent to our task, the relentless assessment of our minds. There was only ink and haste, ghostly recall, hopeful conjecture, and the rare minor certainty.
 * p. 164


 * To leave this region with a rupee may be immoral.
 * p. 187


 * She was gone into the mass of thousands of worshipers painting white tilaks on their foreheads and purifying themselves with Puja as they recited sutras over candles and milk with coconut shells. I walked on, with a sorrow that time has never extinguished.
 * p. 190


 * We feel society would best be served, not so much by a pill for intellect or sexuality, but by one for compassion. A medicine for altruism. Perhaps we have one.
 * p. 197


 * We have found noble action is not elitist or affluent, but conferred by the democratic vision; our duty is to everyone. Ultimately, our effort is for the smallest of things, for the children.
 * p. 216


 * She is a reminder of why we risk our lives for medicines. Much of the world is like this precious one, locked in a cruel room. We wish to be, if you will, the firemen.
 * p. 219