Quotes by Gore Vidal

“Foreigners are mystified by the whole business while thoughtful Americans – there are several of us – are equally mystified that the ruling establishment of the country has proved to be so mindless...”

“The malice of a true Christian attempting to destroy an opponent is something unique in the world. No other religion ever considered it necessary to destroy others because they did not share the sa...”

“Even a child could see the division between what the Galileans [i.e., Christians] say they believe and what, in fact, they do believe, as demonstrated by their actions. A religion of brotherhood an...”

“But like so many others nowadays, poor Julian wanted to believe that man's life is profoundly more significant than it is. His sickness was the sickness of our age. We want so much not to be exting...”

“Although Americans justify their self-interest in moral terms, their true interest is never itself moral.”

“We do not want to old to be sharper than we. It is bad enough that they were there first, and got the best things.”

“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”

“I am afraid that as people grow old there is a tendency for them to believe that what the past *ought* to have been it was.”

“...is not all philosophy but preparation for a serene dying?”

“Since nothing is free, to each his price.”

“I’m not sentimental about anything. Life flows by, and you flow with it or you don’t. Move on and move out.”

“A court is the most depressing place on earth. Wherever there is a throne, one may observe in rich detail every folly and wickedness of which man is capable, enameled with manners and gilded with h...”

“Heroes must see to their own fame. No one else will.”

“...Leggett feels that to be excitingly right in general is better than to be dully accurate in particular. That is why he is such an effective journalist.”

“A talent for drama is not a talent for writing but is an ability to articulate human relationships.”