Home / Quotes / Quote by Gore Vidal

Quote by Gore Vidal

“Writers who teach tend to prefer literary theory to literature and tenure to all else. Writers who do not teach prefer the contemplation of Careers to art of any kind.”

Quote by Gore Vidal

Book:A view from the diners club: essays 1987-1991

Work

A view from the diners club: essays 1987-1991

This book is a compilation of essays written during the specified time frame, offering insights and reflections on various topics. more

Author

American writer, playwright, screenwriter, and critic. Known for his sharp political satire and profound historical insight, Vidal's work spans a variety of genres including novels, plays, screenplays, and criticism. more

You May Also Like

“Great critics do not explicate a text; they describe it and then report on what they have described, if the description itself is not the criticism.”

Ifs Criticism Critics Reports Description

Book:The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000

Source: The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000

“Laughing at someone else is an excellent way of learning how to laugh at oneself; and questioning what seem to be the absurd beliefs of another group is a good way of recognizing the potential absurdity of many of one's own cherished beliefs.”

Way Seems Belief Laughing Groups Oneself Absurd Excellent Sarcasm Cynicism Questioning Absurdity Recognizing Gore Good Way

Author:Gore Vidal

“Of course, it is possible for any citizen with time to spare, and a canny eye, to work out what is actually going on, but for the many there is not time, and the network news is the only news even though it may not be news at all but only a series of flashing fictions.”

May Eye Courses Fiction Media Citizens News Series Work Out Spares

Book:The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

Source: The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

“There is hardly an American male of my generation who has not at one time or another tried to master the victory cry of the great ape as it issued from the androgynous chest of Johnny Weissmuller, to the accompaniment of thousands of arms and legs snapping during attempts to swing from tree to tree in the backyards of the Republic.”

Men Generations Tree Cry Masters Arms Victory Males Legs Chests Republic One Time Swings Apes My Generation Backyards Arms And Legs Snapping Androgynous

Book:Reflections Upon a Sinking Ship. (1. Ed.)

Source: Reflections Upon a Sinking Ship. (1. Ed.)

“When Ronald Reagan's career in show business came to an end, he was hired to impersonate, first, a California governor and then an American president who would reduce taxes for his employers, the Southern and Western New Rich, much of whose money came from the defence industries. There is nothing unusual about this arrangement. All recent presidents have had their price-tags.”

Source: Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia

“The last best hope of earth, two trillion dollars in debt, is spinning out of control, and all we can do is stare at a flickering cathode-ray tube as Ollie answers questions on TV while the press, resolutely irrelevant as ever, asks politicians if they have committed adultery. From V-J Day 1945 to this has been, my fellow countrymen, a perfect nightmare.”

“I find in most novels no imagination at all. They seem to think the highest form of the novel is to write about marriage, because that's the most important thing there is for middle-class people.”

People Thinking Writing Important Seems Form Imagination Class Novel Middle Highest Important Things Middle Class

Author:Gore Vidal

“There's a lot to be said for being nouveau riche, and the Reagans mean to say it all.”

Mean Said Literature Nouveau Riche

Author:Gore Vidal

“An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral.”

Ideas Greater Monument Cathedrals Inherit The Wind

Author:Clarence Darrow

“Physical deformity, calls forth our charity. But the infinite misfortune of moral deformity calls forth nothing but hatred and vengeance.”

Moral Hatred Infinite Charity Misfortunes Vengeance Deformity

Author:Clarence Darrow