I have always regarded as a stroke of good fortune that I was not born or brought up in a small American town; they may be the backbone of the nation, but they are also the backbone of ignorance, bigotry, and boredom, all in vast quantities.
Interpretation
The author values the diversity of experiences over the limitations often found in small, homogeneous towns.
Gore Vidal's quote reflects his belief that being raised outside of a small American town spared him from the ignorance and narrow-mindedness that can flourish in such insular environments. While he acknowledges that small towns play a critical role in American culture, he critiques their tendency to foster bigotry and a lack of intellectual stimulation, suggesting that a broader worldview is essential for personal growth.
In practice
In a debate about urban versus rural upbringing, one might quote Gore Vidal to emphasize the importance of exposure to diverse perspectives.
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 don't understand why I'm not dead. When your heart breaks, you should die
We can bear to be deprived of everything but our self-conceit.
I don't like the word 'autobiography.' I rather like the term 'autofiction.' The second you make a script out of the story of your life, it becomes fictional. Of course, the truth is never far. But the story is created out of it.
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn't be a great moral teacher. He'd be either a lunatic on a level with a man who says he's a poached egg or else he'd be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.
Your soul is a dark forest. But the trees are of a particular species, they are genealogical trees.
When virtue has slept it will arise more vigorous.
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