Hunter S Thompson on work ...
"Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism."
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
"Publishers are notoriously slothful about numbers, unless they're attached to dollar signs - unlike journalists, quarterbacks, and felony criminal defendants who tend to be keenly aware of numbers at all times."
"I have no taste for either poverty or honest labour, so writing is the only recourse left for me."
"I've always considered writing the most hateful kind of work. I suspect it's a bit like fucking, which is only fun for amateurs. Old whores don't do much giggling."
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours."
... on drugs ...
"You can turn your back on a person, but never turn your back on a drug, especially when its waving a razor sharp hunting knife in your eye."
"I have always loved marijuana. It has been a source of joy and comfort to me for many years. And I still think of it as a basic staple of life, along with beer and ice and grapefruits - and millions of Americans agree with me."
"There is nothing more helpless and irresponsible than a man in the depths of an ether binge."
"Good mescaline comes on slow. The first hour is all waiting, then about halfway through the second hour you start cursing the creep who burned you, because nothing is happening...and then ZANG!"
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."
... on America ...
"America: just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable."
"We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce those laws."
"We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world - bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are whores for power and oil with hate and fear in our hearts."
... lifestyle advice ...
"Going to trial with a lawyer who considers your whole lifestyle a crime-in-progress is not a happy prospect."
"The person who doesn't scatter the morning dew will not comb grey hairs."
"He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master."
"Anytime there's a big sporting event, go to either the winning or losing town; there'll be riots in both of them. Riots are fun."
"Avoid being seized by the police. The cops are not your friends. Don't tell them anything."
"Have an objective to give your bender a theme. For instance, stalking and killing a wild pig with a bowie knife."
"Register at a hotel under a pseudonym, and then rent two convertibles - a Porsche and a green Cadillac - so you can switch cars when things start to go bad. Be sure to launch one of these cars off a steep hill."
"Don't have sex in the lobby - it's usually awkward."
"Call on God, but row away from the rocks."
... and finally ...
"The Edge ... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over."
"For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled."
"A word to the wise is infuriating."
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
"Some may never live, but the crazy never die."
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