We should stop going around babbling about how we're the greatest democracy on earth, when we're not even a democracy. We are a sort of militarised republic. Gore Vidal More Quotes by Gore Vidal More Quotes From Gore Vidal My father had a deep and lifelong contempt for politicians in general ("They tell lies," he used to say with wonder, "even when they don't have to"). Gore Vidal wonder father lying For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more. Gore Vidal freedom-of-speech liberty average 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. Gore Vidal government class people Most writers are middle-class and are the children of doctors or lawyers. Gore Vidal doctors class children Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn. Gore Vidal fashion hair inspirational You hear all this whining going on, "Where are our great writers?" The thing I might feel doleful about is: Where are the readers? Gore Vidal whining investing might It makes no difference who you vote for - the two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people. Gore Vidal differences party two Country is run by... financial powers & corporate interests [who] send their lawyers to Congress to make laws so that they don't have to pay taxes Gore Vidal law running country There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Gore Vidal party wings two The great unmentionable evil at the center of our culture is monotheism. From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as the Old Testament, three anti-human religions have evolved -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These are sky-god religions. They are, literally, patriarchal -- God is the Omnipotent Father -- hence the loathing of women for 2,000 years in those countries afflicted by the sky-god and his earthly male delegates. Gore Vidal god country father Today's public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can't read them either. Gore Vidal sarcastic writing book At least when the Emperor Justinian, a sky-god man, decided to outlaw sodomy, he had to come up with a good practical reason, which he did. It is well known, Justinian declared, that buggery is a principal cause of earthquakes, and so must be prohibited. But our sky-godders, always eager to hate, still quote Leviticus, as if that looney text had anything useful to say about anything except, perhaps, the inadvisability of eating shellfish in the Jerusalem area. Gore Vidal hate sky men True wisdom is to know the extent of what you don't know quite as well as you know what you do know. Gore Vidal true-wisdom wells knows The four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so. Gore Vidal four common beautiful Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates. Gore Vidal issues political historical On 16 September 1985, when the Commerce Department announced that the United States had become a debtor nation, the American Empire died. Gore Vidal debtors united-states literature All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting to encounter yourself. Gore Vidal parent forever children Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so. Gore Vidal native-american running life Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head. Shakespeare has perhaps 20 players. ... I have 10 or so, and thats a lot. As you get older, you become more skillful at casting them. Gore Vidal casting player writing These people [Bush Administration] are for the most part rip-off artists. Notice that they're all gas and oil men from Cheney, to the two Bushes; I think Rumsfeld also. Gore Vidal rip artist men
