In classical times, it was a capital offense to speculate upon the hour of a king's death or upon the identity of his successor.

Gore Vidal
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  1. I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me--they, and the love and loyaty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could. - Veronica Roth

  2. It answers the question that was tormenting you: my love, you are not 'one thing in my life' - not even the most important - because my life no longer belongs to me because...you are always me. - JeanPaul Sartre

  3. You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of... - Philip K. Dick

  4. Droll thing life is -- that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself -- that comes too late -- a crop of inextinguishable regrets. - Joseph Conrad

  5. Treat everyone you meet as if they were you. - Doug Dillon

More Quotes By Gore Vidal
  1. The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.

  2. History is idle gossip about a happening whose truth is lost the instant it has taken place.

  3. Ultimately, totalitarianism is the only sort of politics that can truly serve the sky-god's purpose. Any movement of a liberal nature endangers his authority and that of his delegates on earth. One God, one King, one Pope, one master in the factory, one father-leader in...

  4. Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.

  5. Life will be wonderful when men no longer fear dying. When the last superstitions are thrown out and we meet death with the same equanimity as life. No longer will children's minds be twisted by evil gods whose fantastic origin is in those barbaric tribes...

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