Gore Vidal, who died Tuesday at his Hollywood Hills home, was known for his unmatched wit and one-liners.
The Times’ obituary, written by Elaine Woo, noted that the prolific author “demolished intellectual rivals like Norman Mailer and William F. Buckley Jr. with acidic one-liners, establishing himself as a peerless master of talk-show punditry.” She also described him as a “glorious gadfly on the national conscience.”
“Style,” Vidal once said, “is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.”
PHOTOS: Gore Vidal | 1925 – 2012
That quote — and numerous others — are circulating on the Internet and in social media on Wednesday, as a new generation is introduced to Vidal’s greatest quips, including this gem: “The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country — and we haven’t seen them since.”
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