Quotessence
Home / Authors / Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

Journalist

Filter quotes by topic

AllGonzoFear And LoathingLoathingPeopleIfsWayMenGonzo JournalismThinkingLas VegasHuntersVegasKnowsWorldLongWritingDrugKindYearsEpic

Famous Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

“I think it might be better to have the President sort of like the King of England - or the Queen - and have the real business of the presidency conducted by ... a city manager-type, a Prime Minister, somebody who's directly answerable to Congress, rather than a person who moves all his friends into the White House and does whatever he wants for four years.”

ThinkingWantYearsPersonsDoeRealMightMovingHousePresidentWhiteCitiesFourTypeKingsEnglandCongressManagersMinistersQueensWhite HousePrimeFour YearsPresidencyPrime Minister
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
Create image

“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
Create image

“Anybody who thinks that 'it doesn't matter who's President' has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid war on the other side of the world-or been beaten and gassed by Police for trespassing on public property-or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons-or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will wish you had voted.”

ThinkingWorldWarMatterReasonPoliticalDiesFightingWishSidesPresidentStupidBrokenPolicePropertyPhonesAccessAssChiefsCooksNosesJailTwelveLockedGovernorsShowersBeatenViciousWish YouCountyLocked UpIrsTrespassing
Book:Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness
Create image

“["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
Create image

“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
Create image

“How long can we maintain? I wonder. How long before one of us starts raving and jabbering at this boy? What will he think then? This same lonely desert was the last known home of the Manson family. Will he make that grim connection.”

ThinkingLongHomeLastsKnownWonderBoysDrugLonelyConnectionsDesertVegasLas VegasGrimLoathingGonzoMansonFear And LoathingGonzo Journalism
Book:Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
Create image

“My life has been the polar opposite of safe, but I am proud of it and so is my son, and that is good enough for me. I would do it all over again without changing the beat, although I have never recommended it to others. That would be cruel and irresponsible and wrong, I think, and I am none of those things.”

ThinkingHas BeensEnoughWould BeSonProudSafeBeatsOppositesMy SonGood EnoughIrresponsiblePolar Opposites
Book:Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the F
Create image

“In San Francisco - life goes on. Hope rises and dreams flicker and die. Love plans for tomorrow and loneliness thinks of yesterday. Life is beautiful and living is pain. The sound of music floats down a dark street. A young girl looks out a window and wishes she were married. A drunk sleeps under a bridge. It is tomorrow.”

ThinkingLooksDreamPainBeautifulYoungLife IsDiesGirlWishSoundDarkSleepPlansStreetsLonelinessGoes OnTomorrowMarriedWindowYesterdayDrunkBridgesFloatsSan FranciscoLife Goes OnFlickerLife Is BeautifulSound Of Music
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
Create image

“History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of "history" it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody understands at the time--and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened.”

ThinkingKnowsLongHardReasonWholeSeemsEnergyGenerationsHappenedFineReasonableNow And ThenFlashBullshitVegasLas VegasLoathingRetrospectGonzoFear And Loathing
Book:Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream
Create image

“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.”

PeopleThinkingBelieveDrinkDegreesSincereAntisocialUnconcerned
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
Create image

“And that, I think, was the handle--that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting--on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark--the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

ThinkingNeedsYearsLooksKindMeanEyeBeautifulFightingEvilEnergyForceSidesWaterFiveMilitaryVictoryMarkWestWaveHandleHillsBrokeInevitableFive YearsRidingNo PointMomentumVegasLas VegasLoathingSteepGonzoFear And LoathingFighting On
Author:Hunter S. Thompson
Create image