Gore Vidal said it well. So well, in fact, that years and decades after his words were first published, they can still blow us away. In celebration of the prolific author, here are Metro’s top ten favorite Vidal quotes:
“As the age of television progresses, the Reagans will be the rule, not the exception. To be perfect for television is all a President has to be these days.”
“I never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television.”
“Every four years the naive half who vote are encouraged to believe that if we can elect a really nice man or woman President everything will be all right. But it won’t be.”
“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.
“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.”
“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.”
“The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return”
“Fifty percent of people won’t vote, and fifty percent don’t read newspapers. I hope it’s the same fifty percent.”
“We’ll have a military dictatorship pretty soon, on the basis that nobody else can hold everything together.”
“I hope to live long enough hot see a sexual democracy in America.”
Which is your favorite?
Also, just for fun, here’s a video of a 10-year-old Gore Vidal flying a plane:
