Quotes by Hunter S. Thompson

In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Life

Marathon running, like golf, is a game for players, not winners. That is why Callaway sells golf clubs and Nike sells running shoes. But running is unique in that the world's best racers are on the same course, at the same time, as amateurs, who have as much chance of winning as your average weekend warrior would scoring a touchdown in the NFL.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Life

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Success

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.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Truth

March is a month without mercy for rabid basketball fans. There is no such thing as a 'gentleman gambler' when the Big Dance rolls around. All sheep will be fleeced, all fools will be punished severely... There are no Rules when the deal goes down in the final weeks of March. Even your good friends will turn into monsters.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Friendship

There are many harsh lessons to be learned from the gambling experience, but the harshest one of all is the difference between having Fun and being Smart.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Education

If Sunday is the Lord's day, then Saturday belongs to the Devil. It is the only night of the week when he gives out Free passes to the Late show at the Too Much Fun Club.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

Some may never live, but the crazy never die.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshipped and fondled like a priceless diamond.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

Luck is a very thin wire between survival and disaster, and not many people can keep their balance on it.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

'Crazy' is a term of art; 'Insane' is a term of law. Remember that, and you will save yourself a lot of trouble.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

As far as I'm concerned, it's a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

I am a generous man, by nature, and far more trusting than I should be. Indeed. The real world is risky territory for people with generosity of spirit. Beware.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Life

The Hell's Angels try not to do anything halfway, and anyone who deals in extremes is bound to cause trouble, whether he means to or not. This, along with a belief in total retaliation for any offense or insult, is what makes the Hell's Angels unmanageable for the police and morbidly fascinating to the general public.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

Justice is expensive in America. There are no Free Passes... You might want to remember this, the next time you get careless and blow off a few Parking Tickets. They will come back to haunt you the next time you see a Cop car in your rear-view mirror.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Love

I am not a yachting person, by nature, but I have just enough experience on the sea under sail to feel a certain nostalgia for it when I see a big white racing yacht heeled over at cruising speed on the ocean, and I can still tie a mean bowline knot on just about anything in less than 10 seconds.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

There is no such thing as paranoia. Your worst fears can come true at any moment.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Courage

I learned a long time ago that reality was much weirder than anyone's imagination.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Education

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

As long as I'm learning something, I figure I'm OK - it's a decent day.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Education

Gambling can turn into a dangerous two-way street when you least expect it. Weird things happen suddenly, and your life can go all to pieces.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Life

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Wisdom

If I'd written all the truth I knew for the past ten years, about 600 people - including me - would be rotting in prison cells from Rio to Seattle today. Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism.

— Hunter S. Thompson

Truth