People have forgotten the effects of prohibition. We have become the United Statesof Amnesia. Gore Vidal More Quotes by Gore Vidal More Quotes From Gore Vidal If satire is to be effective, the audience must be aware of the thing satirized. Gore Vidal satireaudienceifs Populists have never had a good press in Freedom's land. Gore Vidal populistpressesland One's neighbor is always the enemy. That is the nature of things. Gore Vidal neighborenemy Whether you have an abortion, what you put in your own body, with whom you have sex - these are not affairs of the state. A government does not exist to control the citizens. When it does, it is a tyranny, and must be fought. The tree of liberty, Jefferson warned us, must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants and patriots. Gore Vidal governmentsexblood God, or what have you, will not be found at the far end of a syllogism, no matter how brilliantly phrased or conceived. Gore Vidal endsmatterfound Some of my father's fellow West Pointers once asked him why I turned out so well, his secret in raising me. And he said, "I never gave him any advice, and he never asked for any." We agreed on nothing, but we never quarreled once. Gore Vidal secretadvicefather Most writers write books that they wouldn't read. I ought to know; I've done it myself. Gore Vidal donewritingbook Where there is no desire or pursuits, there is no wholeness. But there are satisfying lesser states, fragments. Gore Vidal pursuitstatesdesire Once people get hung up on theology, they've lost sanity forever. Gore Vidal sanityforeverpeople Those who have not undergone minor disasters are usually being held in reserve for something major Gore Vidal minorsreservesdisaster France is a nation devoted to the false hypothesis on which it then builds marvelously logical structures. Gore Vidal logicalfrancestructure Nonprofit status is what created the Bible Belt. The tax code brought religion back to this country. Gore Vidal nonprofitsbeltscountry The only absolute attainment is absolute abandonment. Gore Vidal abandonmentattainmentabsolutes Now the long-feared Asiatic colossus takes its turn as world leader, and we--the white race--have become the yellow man's burden.Let us hope that he will treat us more kindly than we treated him. Gore Vidal raceyellowmen Having no talent is no longer enough. Gore Vidal talentenough But women are always attracted to power. I do not think there could ever be a conqueror so bloody that most women would not willingly lie with him in the hope of bearing a son who would be every bit as ferocious as the father. Gore Vidal fatherlyingson Most lives are spent putting on and taking off masks. Gore Vidal mask It is vice to go to bed with someone you are not married to or have someone of your own sex or to get money for having sex with someone who does not appeal to you-incidentally, the basis of half the marriages of my generation. Gore Vidal bedvicessex I'm in favor of any form of sexual relationship that gives pleasure to those involved. And I have never heard a convincing argument to the contrary. Gore Vidal argumentfavorsgiving If you want to rise in politics in the United States, there is one subject you must stay away from, and that is politics. Gore Vidal united-statessubjectswant
