To get people to do needed things is the perennial hard task of government, not to mention of religion and philosophy.
GORE VIDALOf all recent presidents, Clinton was expected to behave the most sensibly in economic matters. He understood how the economy works. But because he had used various dodges to stay out of the Vietnam War, he came to office ill at ease with the military.
More Gore Vidal Quotes
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In writing and politicking, it’s best not to think about it, just do it.
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Litigation takes the place of sex at middle age.
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I never said I was gay, because I don’t think anyone is.
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The truth about Pearl Harbour is obscured to this day. But it has been much studied.
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All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting to encounter yourself.
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What the police in their ignorance have not figured out is that they have lost all credibility since World War II. They are sort of parasites on the fringe of society and do no particular good for anyone except possibly themselves.
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Certainly ‘The Judgment of Paris’ was the novel in which I found my own voice.
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I’m exactly as I appear. There is no warm, lovable person inside. Beneath my cold exterior, once you break the ice, you find cold water.
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The American high school graduate is two years behind his English, French or German counterpart; in Alabama, God knows how far behind.
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Love is not my bag.
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Does one ever read a politician’s books?
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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.
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Americans have no idea of the extent of their government’s mischief… the number of military strikes we have made unprovoked, against other countries, since 1947 is more than 250.
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I was the most famous kid in the United States. That was 1936.
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The greatest pleasure when I started making money was not buying cars or yachts but finding myself able to have as many freshly typed drafts as possible.
GORE VIDAL