Gore Vidal

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

Until very recently, the artist was a magician who did his magic in public view but kept himself and his effects a matter of mystery. ”

Democracy is supposed to give you the feeling of choice, like Painkiller X and Painkiller Y. But they're both just aspirin. ”

Our form of democracy is bribery, on the highest scale. ”

We're not a democracy. ”

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. ”

Now you have people in Washington who have no interest in the country at all. They're interested in their companies, their corporations grabbing Caspian oil. ”

I can't name three first-rate literary critics in the United States. I'm told there are a few hidden away at universities, but they don't print them in 'The New York Times.' ”

I was the most famous kid in the United States. That was 1936. ”

As for my support for Obama, remember that I was brought up in Washington. It was an all-black city when I was a kid. And I've always been very pro-African-American - or whatever phrase we now use. ”