Gore Vidal Quotes About Character
-
I keep as far from children as possible. I don't like the size of them; the scale is all wrong. The head tends to be too big for the bodies and the hands and feet are a disaster and they keep falling into things, and the nakedness of their bad character.
→ -
You see we adults have learned how to disguise our terrible characters but a child... well, it's like a grotesque drawing of us. They should be neither seen nor heard. And no one must make another one.
→ -
Memory is strange. Scientifically, it is not a mechanical means of repeating something. I can think a thousand times about when I broke my leg at the age of ten, but it is never the same thing which comes to mind when I think about it. My memory of this event has never been, in reality, anything except the memory of my last memory of that event. This is why I use the image of a palimpsest - something written over something partially erased - that is what memory is for me. It's not a film you play back in exactly the same way. It's like theater, with characters who appear from time to time.
→ -
Young people are more hopeful at a certain age than adults, but I suspect that's glandular. As for children, I keep as far from them as possible. I don't like the sight of them. The scale is all wrongs. The heads tend to be too big for the bodies, and the hands and feet are a disaster. They keep falling into things. The nakedness of their bad character! We adults have learned how to disguise our terrible character, but children, well, they are like grotesque drawings of us. They should be neither seen nor heard, and no one must make another one.
→ -
It is notable how little empathy is cultivated or valued in our society. I put this down to our traditional racism and obsessive sectarianism. Even so, one would think that we would be encouraged to project ourselves into the character of someone of a different race or class, if only to be able to control him. But no effort is made.
→
Related Authors
-
Jackie Kennedy Former First Lady of the United States -
Saul Bellow Writer -
Jack Kerouac Novelist -
Christopher Isherwood Novelist -
Amy Goodman Journalist -
John Updike Novelist -
Truman Capote Author -
Amelia Earhart Aviator -
Anais Nin Author -
Tennessee Williams Playwright -
Michael Mewshaw Author -
Tom Wolfe Author -
Noam Chomsky Linguist -
Joanne Woodward Actress -
Dick Cavett Host -
Charlton Heston Actor -
Christopher Hitchens Author -
Norman Mailer Novelist -
William F. Buckley, Jr. Author -
Al Gore Former Vice President of the United States