Quotes by Gore Vidal

Lately, the language of government, always revealing, grows more and more fierce and commanding (due to so many wars lost? so much money wasted), and military metaphors abound as czars lead all-out wars on drugs. Yet, at the risk of causing both offense and embarrassment among even the not-so-faithful, I feel obliged to say that I do not accept the authority of any state---much less one founded as was ours upon the free fulfillment of each citizen---to forbid me, or anyone, the use of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, sex with a consenting partner or, if one is a woman, the right to an abortion. I take these rights to be absolute and should the few persist in their efforts to dominate the private lives of the many, I recommend force as a means of changing their minds.