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Gore Vidal Quotes

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There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit stupider, more rigid, more doctrinaire in their laissez-faire capitalism than

There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit stupider, more rigid, more doctrinaire in their laissez-faire capitalism than the Democrats, who are cuter, prettier, a bit more corrupt - until recently... and more willing than the Republicans to make small adjustments when the poor, the black, the anti-imperialists get out of hand. But, essentially, there is no difference between the two parties.

Party, Hands, Wings

FaceBook post by Gore Vidal from Jul 27, 2011

There are a great many people who have a vested interest in maintaining the stupidity of the American public.

People, Stupidity, Maintaining

We are the United States of Amnesia, we learn nothing because we remember nothing.

United States, Politics, Remember

Gore Vidal (2004). “Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia”, p.7, CLAIRVIEW BOOKS

Politics is made up of two words: "Poli," which is Greek for "many," and "tics," which are bloodsucking insects.

Blood, Two, Greek

"Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

Persuading the people to vote against their own best interests has been the awesome genius of the American political elite from the beginning.

People, Political, Genius

Gore Vidal (2007). “Selected Essays”, Abacus Software

You know, I've been around the ruling class all my life, and I've been quite aware of their total contempt for the people of the country.

Country, Class, People

"Gore Vidal on the media". Interview with Paul Jay, therealnews.com. July 11, 2007.

The corporate grip on opinion in the United States is one of the wonders of the Western world. No First World country has ever managed to eliminate so entirely from its media all objectivity - much less dissent.

Country, Objectivity, Media

Gore Vidal (1992). “The Decline and Fall of the American Empire”

It doesn't actually make any difference whether the President is Republican or Democrat. The genius of the American ruling class is that it has been able to make the people think that they have had something to do with the electing of presidents for 200 years when they've had absolutely nothing to say about the candidates or the policies or the way the country is run.

Country, Running, Thinking

Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

Reality is something the human race doesn't handle very well.

Reality, Race, Wells

The four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so.

Beautiful, Four, Common

FaceBook post by Gore Vidal from Aug 18, 2011

At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice.

Public Opinion, Prejudice, Superstitions

Gore Vidal (1969). “Reflections Upon a Sinking Ship. (1. Ed.)”, Boston : Little, Brown

I’m not a conspiracy theorist - I’m a conspiracy analyst.

Conspiracy, Analysts, Theorists

"Vidal salon" by Ryszard Kapuscinski, www.theguardian.com. May 4, 2007.

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.

Sarcastic, Book, Writing

FaceBook post by Gore Vidal from Nov 18, 2010

For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.

Average, Freedom Of Speech, Liberty

Gore Vidal (2011). “Burr: A Novel”, p.598, Vintage

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.

Democracy, Earth, Republic

"Gore Vidal and the Mind of the Terrorist". Interview with Ramona Koval, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio National, November 2001.

The unfed mind devours itself.

Mind

When you control opinion, as corporate America controls opinion in the United States by owning the media, you can make the masses believe almost anything you want, and guide them as you please.

Believe, Media, America

The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country — and we haven't seen them since.

Country, People, United States

Gore Vidal (2013). “Gore Vidal's State of the Union: Nation Essays 1958-2005”, p.3, The Nation Co. LP

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.

God, Country, Father

Gore Vidal (1992). “The Decline and Fall of the American Empire”

The people are not stupid, but they are totally misinformed.

Stupid, People, Not Stupid

"Gore Vidal on the Media and the American People". Interview with David Barsamian, www.sharedhost.progressive.org. August 1, 2012.

Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.

People, Political, Voting

FaceBook post by Gore Vidal from Jul 26, 2011

I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam - good people, yes, but any religion based on a single, well, frenzied and virulent god, is not as useful to the human race as, say, Confucianism, which is not a religion but an ethical and educational system.

Educational, Race, People

"At Home: Essays 1982-1988". Book by Gore Vidal (Appendix), 1988.

Apparently, 'conspiracy stuff' is now shorthand for unspeakable truth.

Stuff, Conspiracy, Shorthand

Gore Vidal (2003). “Dreaming War: Blood for Oil and the Cheney-Bush Junta”, p.50, CLAIRVIEW BOOKS

Our only political party has two right wings, one called Republican, the other Democratic. But Henry Adams figured all that out back in the 1890s. "We have a single system," he wrote, and "in that system the only question is the price at which the proletariat is to be bought and sold, the bread and circuses."

Party, Wings, Two

Gore Vidal (2004). “Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia”, p.50, CLAIRVIEW BOOKS

As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action.

Election Time, Action, Language

Gore Vidal (2004). “Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia”, p.52, CLAIRVIEW BOOKS

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