This is the problem with this rich and anguished generation. Somewhere a long time ago they fell in love with the idea that politicians—even the slickest and brightest presidential candidates—were real heroes and truly exciting people.

That is wrong on its face. They are mainly dull people with corrupt instincts and criminal children.

—Hunter S. Thompson. "Dance of the Seven Dwarfs." San Francisco Examiner. 6 July 1986. (Collected in Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80's)

It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.

—Hunter S. Thompson. "The Gonzo Salvage Co." San Francisco Examiner. 3 March 1986. (Collected in Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80's)

Fiction is a bridge to the truth that journalism can't reach. Facts are lies when they're added up, and the only kind of journalism I can pay much attention to is something like Down and Out in Paris and London.

—Hunter S. Thompson. "Letter to Angus Cameron, 28 June 1965." The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967.

I’m too greedy to wish you much luck, but if you can break through without stepping on my head, I hope you make it.

—Hunter S. Thompson.

This is from a letter to William J. Kennedy on 10 August 1960, collected in The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967. Lines like this one are why I’ve become a fan of HST this year. This is what complimenting or well-wishing looks like when the garbage is stripped away, and what is really felt is said.

The whole framework of the presidency is getting out of hand. It's come to the point where you almost can't run unless you can cause people to salivate and whip on each other with big sticks. You almost have to be a rock star to get the kind of fever you need to survive in American politics.

—Hunter S. Thompson. "December." Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72.

So much for Objective Journalism. Don't bother to look for it here--not under any byline of mine; or anyone else I can think of. With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms.

—Hunter S. Thompson. "December." Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72.

Live steady. Don't fuck around. Give anything weird a wide berth--including people. It's not worth it. I learned this the hard way, through brutal overindulgence.

—Hunter S. Thompson. "December." Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72.