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October 3, 2005 is the 80th birthday of prolific American author
and historian Gore Vidal.
Vidal's genius shines through engaging prose (novels, plays,
essays, short stories, non-fiction books) elucidating America's
history and its powerful lessons, and making greatly needed
observations about America. Such an extraordinary individual is
rarely given the recognition, respect and honor they deserve
during their lifetime..
With a personal library of Vidal's work spanning from 1946 to
present, I take this opportunity to share a few quotes from
Vidal books, essays, interviews, and lectures which may lead you
to explore the wealth of wisdom, knowledge and insightful
observations in his extensive body of work:.
>From Vidal's book "Homage to Daniel Shays - Collected Essays by
Gore Vidal": "...I think it is tragic that the poor man has
almost no chance to rise unless he is willing to put himself in
thrall to moneyed interests." (June 6, 1968, postscript to 'The
Holy Family').
"Why do we allow our governors to take so much of our money and
spend it in ways that not only fail to benefit us but do great
damage to others as we prosecute undeclared wars...in what is
supposed to be peacetime? Whether he knows it or not, the
middle-income American is taxed as though he were living in a
socialist society. But for the money he gives the government he
gets almost nothing back." (The New York Review of Books, August
10, 1972, 'Homage to Daniel Shays').
>From Vidal's April 20, 1992 Lowell Lecture at Harvard
University: "Our prisons are the most terrible in the First
World and the most crowded. Our death row executions are a
source of deep disgust in civilized countries where more and
more we are regarded as a primitive, uneducated, and dangerous
people.".
>From interview by Brooks Peters, "Vintage Vidal," Fall 1992, Out
magazine: "Monotheism is the great unmentionable evil at center
of our culture...And considering the damage it [Christianity]
has done to the United States through vicious laws, I am for
curbing it. First step, tax all church/temple portfolios...".
>From Vidal's book "The Last Empire-Essays 1992-2000" : "It is
part of the myth that the attack [Pearl Harbor] was unprovoked."
(Newsweek, Jan. 11, 1993, 'How We Missed The Saturday Dance').
"The sensible code observed by all the world (except for certain
fundamentalist monotheistic Jews, Christians, and Muslims) is
that "consensual" relations in sexual matters are no concern of
the state." (The Nation, July 21, 1997, 'The New Theocrats').
"Drugs. If they did not exist our governors would have invented
them in order to prohibit them and so make much of the
population vulnerable to arrest, imprisonment, seizure of
property, and so on." (Vanity Fair Nov. 1998, 'Shredding the
Bill of Rights').
>From Vidal's book, "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace," 2002 :
"Although we regularly stigmatize other societies as rogue
states, we ourselves have become the largest rogue state of all.
We honor no treaties. We spurn international courts. We strike
unilaterally wherever we choose. We give orders to the United
Nations but do not pay our dues. We complain of terrorism, yet
our empire is now the greatest terrorist of all...".
>From Vidal's Book, "Dreaming War," 2002, 'The Last Defender of
the American Republic' interview with GV by Marc Cooper:
"Americans have no idea of the extent of their government's
mischief. The number of military strikes we have made
unprovoked, against other countries, since 1947-48 is more than
250. These are major strikes everywhere from Panama to Iran.".
>From article by Steven Kotler, "Vidal and Condon," VLifemag.com,
March 2005: "There's no such thing as a gay person or a straight
person. Some of us are more of one thing than others, but no one
is any one thing. There are no identifying signs, no simple
classifications. Human beings are human beings, there are no two
alike.".
Gore Vidal is a man who has lived true to himself, and in doing
so has become an astute observer of human weakness and its often
detrimental, if not tragic, impact upon humanity's history. He
lives on his own terms, a true patriot fighting for the
republic..
Christine Smith (www.christinesmith.us) is a writer, author of
an internationally popular book, actress and social justice
activist from Golden, Colorado, USA. She was recipient of The
Outstanding American Award in 2002 and the Amigas Peace Prize in
2000.
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