Democracy is something America has never really practiced. Because the Founding Fathers hated two things: monarchy and democracy. They wanted a republic, a replica of the Roman or Venetian republics. They didn't even like the etymology of the word "democracy."
Gore VidalWhere there is no desire or pursuits, there is no wholeness. But there are satisfying lesser states, fragments.
Gore VidalIt is natural for men to want power. But to seek power actively takes a temperament baffling to both the simple and the wise. The simple cannot fathom how any man would dare presume to prevail, while the wise are amazed that any reasonable man would want the world, assuming he could get it.
Gore VidalThe worst that can be said about pornography is that it leads not to anti-social acts but to the reading of more pornography
Gore VidalThe most interesting thing about writing is the way that it obliterates time. Three hours seem like three minutes. Then there is the business of surprise. I never know what is coming next. The phrase that sounds in the head changes when it appears on the page. Then I start probing it with a pen, finding new meanings. Sometimes I burst out laughing at what is happening as I twist and turn sentences. Strange business, all in all. One never gets to the end of it. Thatโs why I go on, I suppose. To see what the next sentences I write will be.
Gore Vidal