The only thing that I react really violently to is being misquoted.
Interpretation
Misrepresentation of one's words can cause strong emotional responses.
Gore Vidal emphasizes the importance of accurately representing someone's thoughts and words. Misquotation can lead to misunderstandings and distortions of one's beliefs and intentions, provoking an intense reaction from the individual whose words have been misrepresented.
In practice
During a speech against misinformation, one might reference Vidal's quote to highlight the significance of truthfulness.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
I followed my heart without breaking any rules.
It's said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from others' mistakes. But the wisest person of all learns from others's successes.
...but I've never regretted it. You can't regret experience.
Lord sanctify us. Oh! That Thy spirit might come and saturate every faculty, subdue every passion, and use every power of our nature for obedience to God.
Making steel may be compared to making a chappati. To make a good chappati, even a golden pin will not work unless the dough is good
Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation.
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