Gonzo Quotes

• If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Inspirational, Crazy, Epic

  Hunter S. Thompson (2012). “Ancient Gonzo Wisdom”, p.372, Pan Macmillan

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• There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death?

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Sex, Rain, Hunters

  Hunter S. Thompson (2011). “Generation of Swine: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist”, p.10, Simon and Schuster

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• There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Men, Addiction, Fear And Loathing

  "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream".

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• Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of 'the rat race' is not yet final.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Hero, Race, Champion

  1969 'Those Daring Young Men In Their Flying Machines Ain't What They Used To Be!', in Pageant, Sep.

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• Most people who deal in words don't have much faith in them and I am no exception.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  People, Hunters, Deals

  Hunter S. Thompson (2011). “The Rum Diary: Film Tie-in Edition”, p.57, A&C Black

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• I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Weed, Hate, Drinking

  FaceBook post by Hunter S. Thompson from Jul 15, 2014

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• We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Hunters, Slave, Nations

  Hunter S. Thompson (2012). “Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness”, p.215, Pan Macmillan

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• We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce those laws.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Respect, Ignorance Of The Law, Order

  Hunter S. Thompson (2002). “Songs of the Doomed”, p.348, Simon and Schuster

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• We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, fear of getting down-sized or fired because of the plunging economy, fear of getting evicted for bad debts or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Military, War, Debt

  Hunter S. Thompson (2012). “Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness”, p.215, Pan Macmillan

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• Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run, but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Running, Memories, Knowing

  Hunter S. Thompson (2011). “The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time”, p.104, Simon and Schuster

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• Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Life, Death, Suicide

  FaceBook post by Hunter S. Thompson from Nov 01, 2015

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• When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Music, Sports, Hunting

  Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 (1972)

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• Buy the ticket, take the ride.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Fun, Vegas, Fear And Loathing

  Hunter S. Thompson (2012). “Songs of the Doomed: More Notes on the Death of the American Dream”, p.238, Pan Macmillan

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• Seems like the light at the end of the tunnel may be you.

  Steven Tyler

  Humor, Vegas, Tunnels

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• Just sick enough to be totally confident

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Sick, Fear And Loathing, Enough

  Hunter S. Thompson (2010). “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream”, p.201, Vintage

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• I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I felt that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actor, kidding ourselves on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between those two poles - a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other - that kept me going.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Real, Taken, Hands

  "The Rum Diary". Book by Hunter S. Thompson, 1998.

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• A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Procrastination, Men, Choices Made

  Hunter S. Thompson (2012). “Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967”, p.119, Ballantine Books

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• Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Truth, Cells, Hunters

  1973 'Fear and Loathing at the Superbowl', in Rolling Stone, 15 Feb.

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• And that, I think, was the handle--that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting--on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark--the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Beautiful, Military, Mean

  "Fictional character: Raoul Duke". "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", 1998.

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• Gonzo journalism is a style of reporting based on William Faulkner's idea that the best fiction is far more true than any kind of journalism.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Ideas, Style, Fiction

  The Great Shark Hunt "Jacket Copy for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1979)

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• In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Las Vegas, Stupidity, Fear And Loathing

  Hunter S. Thompson (2010). “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream”, p.73, Vintage

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• I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Funny, Truth, Work

  Hunter S. Thompson, Beef Torrey, Kevin Simonson (2008). “Conversations with Hunter S. Thompson”, p.13, Univ. Press of Mississippi

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• For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Beauty, Soul, Triumph

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• Few people understand the psychology of dealing with a highway traffic cop.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Vegas, People, Psychology

  Hunter S. Thompson (2010). “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream”, p.90, Vintage

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• In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.

  Hunter S. Thompson

  Stupid, Philosophical, Las Vegas

  Hunter S. Thompson (2010). “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream”, p.73, Vintage

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