Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidalwas an American writerand a public intellectual known for his patrician manner, epigrammatic wit, and polished style of writing...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth3 October 1925
CityWest Point, NY
CountryUnited States of America
war years harry-truman
I'm a true reactionary. Like all patricians, I'd like to restore the original republic, which we lost 40 years ago when Harry Truman imposed the national security state on us, which has kept us at war, hot or cold, for almost half a century, and it's got us $4 trillion into debt.
years ambitious want
All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.
thinking years would-be
I am glad my life is coming to an end. To think that it might last another five hundred years, now that would be terrible, in my case.
order years europe
When the white race broke out of Europe 500 years ago, it did many astounding things all over the globe. Inspired by a raging sky-god, the whites were able to pretend that their conquests were in order to bring the One God to everyone, particularly those with older and subtler religions.
communication years balzac
Between Malraux, Balzac, and Montaigne, I choose Montaigne. Montaigne will survive all the others, because the essay, meaning direct communication between the writer and his reader, will outlast the novel, by at least a thousand years.
clever thinking years
How to get people to vote against their interests and to really think against their interests is very clever. It's the cleverest ruling class that I have ever come across in history. It's been two hundred years at it. It's superb.
night dust years
Contrary to vulgar legend the lives of great ballerinas are not entirely given up to a few minutes of graceful movement every night followed by champagne drunk out of their toeshoes till dawn, in the company of financiers ... no, most of their time is spent in filthy rehearsal halls, inhaling dust, or else in class, daily, year in year out, practicing, practicing even after they are already prima ballerinas.
thinking years numbers
Think of the earth as a living organism that is being attacked by billions of bacteria whose numbers double every forty years. Either the host dies, or the virus dies, or both die.
american-novelist andy genius
Andy Warhol is the only genius I've ever known with an I.Q. of 60.
betrays night wedding
Each youth betrays considerable anxiety about the wedding night ahead.
next sam script worked
During the late '50s, I had worked on the script of Ben-Hur in an office next to that of the producer Sam Zimbalist.
fourteen
Between fourteen and nineteen, I must have begun and abandoned six novels.
debated democratic eager label ran run seriously suspicious whether
Temperamentally, I am suspicious of belonging to anything. When I ran for office, I debated seriously whether or not to run as an independent because I was not eager to be saddled with the Democratic Party, because any party label is committing.
tim tiny
Every generation gets the Tiny Tim it deserves.