A narcissist is someone better looking than you are. Gore Vidal More Quotes by Gore Vidal More Quotes From Gore Vidal There is hardly an American male of my generation who has not at one time or another tried to master the victory cry of the great ape as it issued from the androgynous chest of Johnny Weissmuller, to the accompaniment of thousands of arms and legs snapping during attempts to swing from tree to tree in the backyards of the Republic. Gore Vidal swingstreemen 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. Gore Vidal dustnightyears Precocious talents mature slowly if at all. Gore Vidal precocioustalentmature Television is a great leveler. You always end up sounding like the people who ask the questions. Gore Vidal endspeopletelevision Lonely children often have imaginary playmates but I was never lonely; rather, I was solitary, and wanted no company at all other than books and movies, and my own imagination. Gore Vidal lonelybookchildren Nothing that Shakespeare ever invented was to equal Lincoln's invention of himself and, in the process, us. Gore Vidal inventionequalprocess Sex is a continuum. You go through different phases along life's way... and if you don't, you've been sort of cheated. Gore Vidal phasesdifferentsex Ronald Reagan: a triumph of the embalmer's art. Gore Vidal triumphpoliticsart You will be favourable to Burr, and so must fail because the American reader cannot bear a surprise. He knows that this is the greatest country on earth, Washington the greatest man that ever lived, Burr the wickedest, and evidence to the contrary is not admissible. That means no inconvenient facts, no new information. If you really want the reader's attention, you must flatter him. Make his prejudices your own. Tell him things he already knows. He will love your soundness. Gore Vidal love-youmeancountry When Ronald Reagan's career in show business came to an end, he was hired to impersonate, first, a California governor and then an American president who would reduce taxes for his employers, the Southern and Western New Rich, much of whose money came from the defence industries. There is nothing unusual about this arrangement. All recent presidents have had their price-tags. Gore Vidal price-tagcaliforniacareers Laughing at someone else is an excellent way of learning how to laugh at oneself; and questioning what seem to be the absurd beliefs of another group is a good way of recognizing the potential absurdity of many of one's own cherished beliefs. Gore Vidal sarcasmlaughingway Great critics do not explicate a text; they describe it and then report on what they have described, if the description itself is not the criticism. Gore Vidal descriptioncriticscriticism In a society like ours, politics is improvisation. To the artful dodger rather than the true believer goes the prize. Gore Vidal improvisationbelieverpolitician Writers who teach tend to prefer literary theory to literature and tenure to all else. Writers who do not teach prefer the contemplation of Careers to art of any kind. Gore Vidal literary-theorywritingart There are certain truths so true that they are practically unbelievable. Gore Vidal unbelievablecertaintruth There's a lot to be said for being nouveau riche, and the Reagans mean to say it all. Gore Vidal nouveau-richeliteraturemean There are two things you never turn down: sex and appearing on television. Gore Vidal funnytwosex We're supposed to procreate and society, god knows, is ferocious on the subject. Heterosexuality is considered such a great and natural good that you have to execute people and put them in prison if they don't practice this glorious act. Gore Vidal heterosexuality-ispracticepeople anyone who sings about love and harmony and life [john lennon] is dangerous to someone who sings about death and killing and subduing [Nixon] Gore Vidal lennonharmonykilling Until the rise of American advertising, it never occurred to anyone anywhere in the world that the teenager was a captive in a hostile world of adults. Gore Vidal teenageradultsbusiness
