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.
Coming of age in a fascist police state will not be a barrel of fun for anybody, much less for people like me, who are not inclined to suffer Nazis gladly and feel only contempt for the cowardly flag-suckers who would gladly give up their outdated freedom to live for the mess of pottage they have been conned into believing will be freedom from fear.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the harsh realities of growing up in a repressive regime, criticizing those who sacrifice their freedoms for false security.
Hunter S. Thompson's quote illustrates the struggles faced by individuals in a totalitarian society, particularly those who value their freedom and autonomy. He expresses disdain for those who willingly give up their rights for the illusion of safety, highlighting the moral cowardice of conforming to oppressive regimes. Thompson’s perspective resonates with the themes of resistance to tyranny and the importance of personal freedom, making it a poignant commentary on human rights and societal values.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on civil liberties, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of resisting oppressive government actions.
More from Hunter S. Thompson
All quotes →As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I'm not sure that I'm going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says 'you are nothing', I will be a writer.
Fiction is a bridge to the truth that journalism can't reach.
There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge.
Objective journalism is one of the main reasons that American politics has been allowed to be so corrupt for so long.
When you write for a living and you can't do anything else, you know that sooner or later that the deadline is going to come screaming down on you like a goddamn banshee. There's no avoiding it...So one day you just don't appear at the El Adobe bar anymore; you shut the door, paint the windows black, rent an electric typewriter and become the monster you always were - the writer.
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A subject which at first glance seems quite removed from the undeclared concern of the book can encapsulate that concern.
It is, I think, an indisputable fact that Americans are, as Americans, the most self-conscious people in the world, and the most addicted to the belief that the other nations of the earth are in a conspiracy to under value them.
Nothing so cements and holds together all the parts of a society as faith or credit, which can never be kept up unless men are under some force or necessity of honestly paying what they owe to one another.
If we are concerned about our great appetite for materials, it is plausible to decrease waste, to make better use of stocks available, and to develop substitutes. But what about the appetite itself? The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialised countries
The spirit of democracy... requires change of the heart... requires the inculcation of the spirit of brotherhood.
Ron: Why spiders? Why couldn't it be "follow the butterflies?