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Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

Journalist

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Famous Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

“There is a progression of understanding vis-a-vis pro football that varies drastically with the factor of distance -- physical, emotional, intellectual and every other way. Which is exactly the way it should be, in the eyes of the amazingly small number of people who own and control the game, because it is this finely managed distance factor that accounts for the high-profit mystique that blew the sacred institution of baseball off its ''national pastime'' pedestal in less than fifteen years.”

PeopleWayShouldYearsEyeGamesUnderstandingNumbersEmotionalFootballIntellectualBaseballAccountsInstitutionsSacredDistanceProfitFactorsFifteenVaryProgressionPedestalPastimeFifteen YearsSmall NumbersMystiquePro Football
Book:The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time
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“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.”

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Book:Ancient Gonzo Wisdom
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“I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright... Or maybe "stupid" is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I.”

PeopleWorldWayLongMadeMatterFeelingsEarthJesusLeftFeltStupidFiguresComfortableDeserveHeavyBotherFreakDeitiesBetter WaysStupid PeopleFinding PeaceLeft AlonePersonal HappinessJesus Freak
Book:The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time
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“He knew who I was, at that time, because I had a reputation as a writer. I knew he was part of the Bush dynasty. But he was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing. He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn't pay much attention to him. But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I'd been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away.”

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Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“That is the problem with this rich and anguished generation. Somewhere a long time ago they fell in love with the idea that politicians- even the slickest and brightest presidential candidates- were real heroes and truly exciting people. That is wrong on its face. They are mainly dull people with corrupt instincts and criminal children.”

PeopleChildrenLongIdeasRealProblemFacesRichGenerationsHeroPoliticianLong TimeExcitingInstinctCriminalsPresidentialCandidatesDullLong Time AgoPresidential CandidateReal Heroes
Book:Generation of Swine: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist
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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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“I wasn't trying to be an outlaw writer. I never heard of that term; somebody else made it up. But we were all outside the law: Kerouac, Miller, Burroughs, Ginsberg, Kesey; I didn't have a gauge as to who was the worst outlaw. I just recognized allies: my people.”

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Book:Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the F
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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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“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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“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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“Happy," I muttered, trying to pin the word down. But it is one of those words, like Love, that I have never quite understood. Most people who deal in words don’t have much faith in them and I am no exception – especially the big ones like Happy and Love and Honest and Strong. They are too elusive and far to relative when you compare them to sharp, mean little words like Punk and Cheap and Phony. I feel at home with these, because they’re scrawny and easy to pin, but the big ones are tough and it takes either a priest or a fool to use them with any confidence.”

PeopleFeelsTryingMeanLittlesUseHomeBigsStrongEasyDealsHonestFoolUnderstoodToughAnd LoveCompareExceptionPriestsRelativePunkHuntersPinsElusivePhonyLike LoveGonzoGonzo Journalism
Book:The Rum Diary: Film Tie-in Edition
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“The Edge...There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others-the living-are those who pushed their control as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came time to choose between Now and Later. But the edge is still Out there.”

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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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“It is all well and good for children and acid freaks to believe in Santa Claus - but it is still a profoundly morbid day for us working professionals. It is unsettling to know that one out of every twenty people you meet on Xmas will be dead this time next year.... Some people can accept this, and some can't. That is why God made whiskey, and also why Wild Turkey comes in $300 shaped canisters during most of the Christmas season...”

PeopleKnowsYearsBelieveWellsChildrenMadeStillsNextAcceptingSeasonsTwentiesFreakTurkeysSantaNext YearAcidWhiskeySanta ClausMorbidXmasGonzoChristmas SeasonBelieve In Santa
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalism -- which is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place.”

PeopleFirstsHouseWhiteMissingBuiltBlindObjectivesSpotsJournalismWhite HouseDogmaRottenScumBlind SpotsGonzo Journalism
Book:Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S. Thompson
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“I drink much less than most people think, and I think much more than most people would believe. I am quite sincere about some of the things which people take very lightly, and almost insultingly unconcerned about some of the things which people take most seriously. In short, I am basically antisocial: certainly not to an alarming degree , but just more so than I appear to be.”

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Author:Hunter S. Thompson
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“We are living in dangerously weird times now. Smart people just shrug and admit they're dazed and confused. The only ones left with any confidence at all are the New Dumb. It is the beginning of the end of our world as we knew it. Doom is the operative ethic.”

PeopleWorldEndsLeftSmartEthicsDumbConfusedOur WorldDoomSmart PeopleDazed
Book:Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the F
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“Coming of age in a fascist police state will not be a barrel of fun for anybody, much less for people like me, who are not inclined to suffer Nazis gladly and feel only contempt for the cowardly flag-suckers who would gladly give up their outdated freedom to live for the mess of pottage they have been conned into believing will be freedom from fear.”

PeopleGivingFeelsBelieveHas BeensStatesAgeSufferingFunGiving UpPoliceLike MeMessComing Of AgeContemptFlagsNaziFascistsCowardlyBarrelsSuckerPolice StateOutdated
Book:Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the F
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