Gore Vidal

"A good deed never goes unpunished. "

"Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically, by definition, be disqualified from ever doing so. "

"Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates. "

"Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half. "

"I'm a born-again atheist. "

"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail. "

"Never have children, only grandchildren. "

"Of ex-President Eisenhower at the Republican convention of 1964 Reading a speech with his usual sense of discovery. "

"Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say and not giving a damn. "

"Teaching has ruined more American novelists than drink. "

"The genius of our ruling class is that it has kept a majority of the people from ever questioning the inequity of a system where most people drudge along, paying heavy taxes for which they get nothing in return. "

"The more money an American accumulates, the less interesting he becomes. "

"There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise. "

"Today's public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can't read them either. "