Gore Vidal Quotes

A narcissist is someone better-looking than you are. Gore Vidal

It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail. Gore Vidal

Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn. Gore Vidal

There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise. Gore Vidal

Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies. Gore Vidal

Television is now so desperately hungry for material that they’re scraping the top of the barrel. Gore Vidal

Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates. Gore Vidal

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

Litigation takes the place of sex at middle age. Gore Vidal

As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests. Gore Vidal

There is no such thing as a homosexual or a heterosexual person. There are only homo- or heterosexual acts. Most people are a mixture of impulses if not practices. Gore Vidal

There is something about a bureaucrat that does not like a poem. Gore Vidal

Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith. Gore Vidal