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Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

Journalist

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Famous Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

“There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. It makes you behave like the village drunkard in some early Irish novel. Total loss of all basic motor skills, blurred vision, no balance, numb tongue - the mind recoils in horror, unable to communicate with the spinal column. Which is interesting, because you can actually watch yourself behaving in this terrible way, but you can’t control it.”

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Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.”

MenHeartKindLongReasonRunningDiesMoneyBusinessDogTvsIndustryJournalismGood ManPlasticThievesShallowMusic BusinessTrenchesHallwaysPimpGonzoGonzo JournalismNo Good Men
Book:Generation of Swine: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
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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.”

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Book:Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga: A Strange and Terrible Saga
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“I don't mean to say that I'm about to state my credo here on this page, but merely to affirm, sincerely for the first time in my life, my belief in man as an individual and independent entity. Certainly not independence in the everyday sense of the word, but pertaining to a freedom and mobility of thought that few people are able - or even have the courage - to achieve.”

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Book:Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967
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“Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men's reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of 'the rat race' is not yet final.”

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Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon. Probably at the next gas station.”

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Book:The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time
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“No matter how much I wanted all those things that I needed money to buy, there was some devilish current pushing me off in another direction -- toward anarchy and poverty and craziness. That maddening delusion that a man can lead a decent life without hiring himself out as a Judas Goat.”

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Book:The Rum Diary: Film Tie-in Edition
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“Just the other day the AP wire had a story about a man from Arkansas who entered some kind of contest and won a two-week vacation--all expenses paid--wherever he wanted to go. Any place in the world: Mongolia, Easter Island, the Turkish Riviera . . . but his choice was Salt Lake City, and that's where he went. Is this man a registered voter? Has he come to grips with the issues? Has he bathed in the blood of the lamb?”

MenWorldKindTwoStoriesWantedChoicesCitiesIssuesBloodWeekPaidIslandsLakesExpensesVotersVacationSaltEasterContestsWireTwo WeeksLambsPlaces In The WorldTurkishArkansasMongoliaSalt Lake CityEaster Island
Book:Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
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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.”

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Book:Fear And Loathing In America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
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“Goddammit. Yeah, I have. First, there's a huge difference between being arrested and being guilty. Second, see, the law changes and I don't. How I stand vis-à-vis the law at any given moment depends on the law. The law can change from state to state, from nation to nation, from city to city. I guess I have to go by a higher law. How's that? Yeah, I consider myself a road man for the lords of karma.”

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Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“Richard Nixon has never been one of my favorite people anyway. For years I've regarded his existence as a monument to all the rancid genes and broken chromosomes that corrupt the possibilities of the American Dream; he was a foul caricature of himself, a man with no soul, no inner convictions, with the integrity of a hyena and the style of a poison toad. The Nixon I remembered was absolutely humorless; I couldn't imagine him laughing at anything except maybe a paraplegic who wanted to vote Democratic but couldn't quite reach the lever on the voting machine.”

PeopleMenYearsSoulDreamWantedExistenceLaughingImagineStylePossibilityBrokenIntegrityMachinesVoteDemocraticMy FavoriteConvictionRememberedPoisonVotingGenesAmerican DreamMonumentFoulCaricaturesLeversToadsHyenasParaplegics
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“The streets of every city in America are filled with men who would pay all the money they could lay their hands on to be transformed, even for a day, into hairy, hard-fisted brutes who walk all over cops, extort drinks from terrified bartenders and roar out of town on big motorcycles after raping the banker's daughter.”

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Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“The main problem in any democracy is that crowd-pleasers are generally brainless swine who can go out on a stage & whup their supporters into an orgiastic frenzy - then go back to the office & sell every one of the poor bastards down the tube for a nickel apiece. Probably the rarest form of life in American politics is the man who can turn on a crowd & still keep his head straight - assuming it was straight in the first place.”

MenFirstsStillsProblemFormTurnsPoorDemocracyStageHe ManOfficeSellsAssumingCrowdsSupporterAmerican PoliticsTurn-onTubesFrenzyNickelsSwinePleasersBrainlessCrowd Pleasers
Book:Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
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“Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience. As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on. Every reaction is a learning process; every significant experience alters your perspective.”

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Book:Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967
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