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Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

Journalist

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Famous Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

“I believe that the major operating ethic in American society right now, the most universal want and need is to be on TV. I've been on TV. I could be on TV all the time if I wanted to. But most people will never get on TV. It has to be a real breakthrough for them. And trouble is, people will do almost anything to get on it. You know, confess to crimes they haven't committed. You don't exist unless you're on TV. Yeah, it's a validation process.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWantNeedsBelieveRealWantedI BelieveProcessTroubleCrimeHavensTvsRight NowMajorsEthicsUniversalYeahCommittedBreakthroughValidationAmerican SocietyWants And Needs
Book:Ancient Gonzo Wisdom
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“I still feel needles in my back when I think about all the horrible disasters that would have befallen me if I had permanently moved to San Francisco and rented a big house, joined the company dole, become national-affairs editor for some upstart magazine—that was the plan around 1967. But that would have meant going to work on a regular basis, like nine to five, with an office—I had to pull out.”

IfsThinkingFeelsStillsBigsHouseCompanyFivePlansOfficeBasesMovedAffairDisasterNineHorribleMagazinesEditorsGoing To WorkSan FranciscoNeedlesBack WhenBig HousesUpstart
Book:Conversations with Hunter S. Thompson
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“["Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas"] is a very hard book to translate to film because there's so much interior monologue. The what if factor. I tried to write it cinematically and let the dialogue carry it but I forgot about the interior monologue. It's kind of hard to show what's going on in the head. I think we should do it like a documentary.”

IfsThinkingShouldWritingKindBookHardShowsFilmDialogueFactorsWhat IfTranslateDocumentariesInteriorsVegasLas VegasLoathingMonologues
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.”

PeopleIfsYearsWould BeTodayPastLiteratureWrittenDangerousTruth IsTenAbsolutesPrisonIncludingJournalismCellsJournalistAnarchyCommodityHuntersHeresySeattleAbsolute TruthRottingGonzoRioGonzo JournalismPrison Cells
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it off to forced conscious expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.”

IfsLifeMindWellsLittlesConsciousDevilTunesFreakTicketsEpicExpansionBeatenLas VegasLoathingChalkFear And LoathingNo SympathyHells Angels
Book:Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
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“The highways are crowded with people who drive as if their sole purpose in getting behind the wheel is to avenge every wrong done them by man, beast or fate. The only thing that keeps them in line is their fear of death, jail and lawsuits.”

PeopleIfsMenDonePurposeLinesBehindsFateBeastWheelsJailSoleHighwaysFear Of DeathCrowdedLawsuitHells Angels
Book:Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga: A Strange and Terrible Saga
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“Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.”

PeopleIfsBelieveMeanStillsMatterInspirationRunningNightEnergyCarSeriousNeededEmptyRadioMilesConsumersLoudFuelFiftyGasSentimentalReally MeanNeedlesI Still Believe
Book:Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the F
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“Fear is a healthy instinct, not a sign of weakness. It is a natural self-defense mechanism that is common to felines, wolves, hyenas, and most humans. Even fruit bats know fear, and I salute them for it. If you think the world is weird now, imagine how weird it would be if wild beasts had no fear.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWorldHumansSelfWould BeNaturalCommonImagineHealthyWeaknessInstinctFruitDefenseBeastMechanismBatsNo FearSelf DefenseSaluteWild BeastsDefense MechanismsHyenas
Book:Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the F
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“we left about midnight and walked down the hill in silence. the night was muggy, and all around me i felt the same pressure, a sense of time rushing by while it seemed to be standing still. whenever i thought of time in puerto rico, i was reminded of those old magnetic clocks that hung on the walls of my classrooms in high school. every now and then a hand would not move for several minutes -- and if i watched it long enough, wondering if it had finally broken down, the sudden click of the hand jumping three for four notches would startle me when it came.”

IfsLongStillsEnoughHandsSchoolMovingNightThreeLeftFeltSilenceWonderFourMinutesBrokenWallHigh SchoolStandingPressureHillsClockClassroomNow And ThenHungMidnightJumpingClicksRushingMagneticPuerto RicoBroken DownStanding StillNotchesRico
Book:The Rum Diary: A Novel
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“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and -- in spite of True Romance magazines -- we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely -- at least, not all the time -- but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don't see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.”

IfsWayInspirationalMindLooksHeartImportantSelfWholeRomanceDiesBornCompanyOur LivesLonelyMagazinesSelf RespectSpiteSomedayHeart And MindBeing SingleAll AloneRespect YourselfSingle GirlTrue RomanceBorn Alone
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“1) Never trust a cop in a raincoat. 2) Beware of enthusiasm and of love, both are temporary and quick to sway. 3) If asked if you care about the world's problems, look deep into the eyes of he who asks, he will never ask you again. 4) Never give your real name. 5) If ever asked to look at yourself, don't look. 6) Never do anything the person standing in front of you can't understand. 7) Never create anything, it will be misinterpreted, it will chain you and follow you for the rest of your life.”

IfsWorldGivingLooksPersonsRealProblemEyeCareAsksNamesFrontsStandingEnthusiasmChainsTemporaryCopRest Of Your LifeYou AgainNever TrustLook At YourselfIf You CareMisinterpreted
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“It was wonderful, a stunning happy ending to what began as another tragic rock & roll story, as if Bob Dylan had been arrested in Miami for jacking off in a seedy little XXX theater while stroking the spine of a fat young boy.”

IfsLittlesStoriesYoungBoysWonderfulRocksTheaterFatsTragicBobDylanHappy EndingsArrestedSpineMiamiStunningJacking Off
Book:Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century
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“There’s a lot of things wrong with this country, but one of the few things still right with it is that a man can steer clear of the organized bullshit if he really wants to. It’s a goddamned luxury, and if I were you, I’d take advantage of it while you can.”

IfsMenWantStillsCountryClearAdvantageLuxuryOrganizedBullshitSteers
Book:Fear And Loathing In America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
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“George McGovern, for all his mistakes... understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon.”

IfsHumansLittlesHas BeensCountryHandsMightRaceMistakeInstinctFantasticHuman RaceGreedyMight Have BeenMonumentAll The Best
Book:Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
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“Who knows? If there is in fact, a heaven and a hell, all we know for sure is that hell will be a viciously overcrowded version of Phoenix & a clean well lighted place full of sunshine and bromides and fast cars where almost everybody seems vaguely happy, except those who know in their hearts what is missing... And being driven slowly and quietly into the kind of terminal craziness that comes with finally understanding that the one thing you want is not there. Missing. Back-ordered. No tengo. Vaya con dios. Grow up! Small is better. Take what you can get.”

IfsKnowsWantWellsHeartKindFactsSeemsHeavenGrowsUnderstandingHellGrowing UpOne ThingCarMissingCleanDrivenVersionsSunshinePhoenixCrazinessTerminalGonzoDioFast Car
Book:Generation of Swine: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
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“In the terms of our Great Society the Hell's Angels and their ilk are losers - dropouts, failures and malcontents. They are rejects looking for a way to get even with a world in which they are only a problem.The Hell's Angels are not visionaries, but diehards, and if they are the forerunners or the vanguard of anything it is not the "moral revolution" in vogue on college campuses, but a fast-growing legion of young unemployables whose untapped energy will inevitably find the same kind of destructive outlet that "outlaws" like the Hell's Angels have been finding for years.”

IfsWorldWayYearsKindHas BeensProblemYoungEnergyTermMoralHellGrowingCollegeRevolutionFindingsAngelDestructiveRejectsLoserOutletsVisionariesCampusOutlawVogueLegionVanguardGreat SocietyForerunnersDropoutsCollege CampusMalcontentDiehard
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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