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“IT NEVER GOT FAST ENOUGH FOR ME” | GONZO — HUNTER S. THOMPSON

December 24, 2009

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Hunter S. Thompson  –photo ©Al Satterwhite

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

— Hunter S. Thompson

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America… just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable.

— Hunter S. Thompson

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Hunter S. Thompson  –photo ©Al Satterwhite

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Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming– “Wow! What a Ride!”

— Hunter S. Thompson

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Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I’m here to tell you that fast is better.  I’ve always believed this, in spite of the trouble it’s caused me.  Being shot out of a cannon will always be better than being squeezed out of a tube.  That is why God made fast motorcycles, Bubba…

Hunter S. Thompson

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So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?

Hunter S. Thompson

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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

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A man who procrastinates in his choosing will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance.

Hunter S. Thompson

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For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled.

— Hunter S. Thompson

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We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, fear of getting down-sized or fired because of the plunging economy, fear of getting evicted for bad debts or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a terrorist sympathizer.

— Hunter S. Thompson

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Every now and then when your life gets complicated and the weasels start closing in, the only cure is to load up on heinous chemicals and then drive like a bastard from Hollywood to Las Vegas … with the music at top volume and at least a pint of ether.

— Hunter S. Thompson

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We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce those laws.

Hunter S. Thompson

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A word to the wise is infuriating.

— Hunter S. Thompson

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To make a point of declaring friendship is to cheapen it. For men’s emotions are very rarely put into words successfully.

— Hunter S. Thompson

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No More Games.  No More Bombs.  No More Walking.  No More Fun.  No More Swimming.  67.  That is 17 years past 50.  17 more than I needed or wanted.  Boring.  I am always bitchy.  No Fun — for anybody.  67.  You are getting Greedy.  Act your old age.  Relax — This won’t hurt…

— Hunter S. Thompson

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Hunter S. Thompson –image by Annie Leibovitz

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36 Comments
  1. December 24, 2009 3:20 am

    Brilliant selection on the quotes – have sources for the pictures?

    • December 24, 2009 10:40 am

      Z-

      For a great collection of Gonzo pics–

  2. December 24, 2009 5:30 am

    Amazing!!!

  3. Knuckles permalink
    December 24, 2009 5:58 am

    Thanks for this…

  4. Sara permalink
    December 24, 2009 9:02 am

    Everything about Hunter turns me on- just electric raw man…

  5. December 24, 2009 9:11 am

    Great posts about Hunter! I’ve been reading your blog, but I haven’t made any comments because my english is not as good as it should be.

    I’ve put a link to these posts in my own blog. Keep on writing!

  6. travis permalink
    December 24, 2009 10:30 am

    HST never sugar coated anything. brilliant. dangerous. more fun than most people could handle.

  7. mutterhals permalink
    December 24, 2009 10:48 am

    This is awesome.

  8. Mitch permalink
    December 24, 2009 11:13 am

    His writing is great. You can read it like watching, I dunno, a great pitcher: ‘wow, that guy’s really good. Look at that technique. Strike Strike Strike.’ But the content, I feel kinda the same way that you do about Arnold: God love ‘im…he is himself, that’s for sure. I guess someone’s gotta be.

  9. Mitch permalink
    December 24, 2009 11:14 am

    Also, I hope I age like him. He balded with grace and courage.

  10. Jack permalink
    December 24, 2009 2:36 pm

    Wow! Read FEAR AND LOATHING, for the first time this year, and was blown away. I have yet to see the movie, but I don’t know if I even want to. Hunter was a great man, and a individual to the max, great post, happy to see some good photos of him, nice quotes too!

    • December 26, 2009 3:29 pm

      Skip the movie. Great writers should never be watched on the screen. All a movie does is eliminate 90% of what makes it great and replace it with pictures of what some Hollywood hack thinks it all means.

      Read.

      • Ivan permalink
        January 14, 2010 10:19 am

        Actually, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is quite possibly the best book-to-big screen adaptation ever created. I highly suggest to everyone who has read the book to watch the film because it will leave you speechless. I made the mistake of watching the movie first and it made no sense whatsoever but after reading the book and re-watching the movie I “get it”.

        This blog is so great, it’s literally a collection of everything I love. Please keep up the great posts!

  11. December 25, 2009 4:22 pm

    Hunter is an inspiration. Here in Louisville KY, where Hunter was from, there are huge banners hanging on the sides of select buildings with the faces and names of the celebrities and sports figures from the city. The organization that sponsored these signs refused to put one of Hunter up because he committed suicide. I think that is a disgrace to an amazing writer who has inspired many, many people. To anyone looking for something great, read The Great Shark Hunt.

  12. Clayton permalink
    December 25, 2009 11:47 pm

    HST has always been a favorite, I’m a Kentuckian and always appreciated him being out there shaking it up properly. Louisville never has properly recognized him as one of her successful sons, just another name to throw on a list of “born here” celebrities, it’s sad.

  13. December 26, 2009 12:22 pm

    This is a great post. Some of those quotes I’m unfamiliar with, but you’re going to have me reclaiming the Rum Diaries from my sister (and it was a gift).

  14. January 3, 2010 10:33 pm

    Really great montage of Hunter’s best, thank you very much. As a journalist, he has always been required reading !

  15. Braditch permalink
    January 13, 2010 5:32 am

    Great selection.

    Thanks a lot

    Alex

  16. Monika permalink
    January 13, 2010 4:20 pm

    Is that last quote from his suicide note?

    • January 16, 2010 10:56 pm

      yes, sadly.

    • nietzschesaurus permalink
      February 26, 2010 2:52 am

      actually his suicide note read:
      “Feb 22 2005

      counselor”

      that quote was written a while before, and was in rolling stone

  17. January 17, 2010 12:50 am

    Excellent piece! Dig your work JP.

    Best regards,
    John

  18. January 22, 2010 6:21 am

    Thanx for posting this. I have read the Rum Diaries & amp;Hells Angels. Both are classic american literature.

  19. ajstone permalink
    January 22, 2010 3:54 pm

    Still my favorite journalist, if not writer in general. His writing was so fluid yet visceral. A real master of prose. Love the collection of quotes.

  20. gregtuco permalink
    February 2, 2010 12:29 am

    Nevermind Kerouac, in 1974 my little gang’s “On The Road” was “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”.

  21. bangkok permalink
    February 4, 2010 3:09 am

    Oh man, i’m so glad that i once again searched for a specific thompson quote (actually i didnt found it here) on google and found this blog and article. thank you, its like a cold shower on my back when i watch this pictures here, thanks for this man. i appreciate your work.

  22. Sean permalink
    February 13, 2010 11:24 am

    Does anyone know what brand and model sunglasses he is wearing in the photo above the quote.
    For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled.

  23. Matt permalink
    February 17, 2010 4:20 pm

    This was great…I saw a couple that weren’t in the “Gonzo” book. Some rumors that a special edition of his striped hunting jacket may appear to raise money for his foundation!

  24. stormsnbellsNrailroads permalink
    March 16, 2010 10:07 pm

    Comforting words.

  25. Jack T. permalink
    April 15, 2010 12:39 pm

    loved the movie adaptation with Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro… used to be on hulu.com

  26. April 15, 2010 4:22 pm

    Great work, JP. HST is one of my greatest heroes, and this was a very fitting tribute.

  27. GeezerNYC permalink
    May 14, 2010 10:50 am

    I just discovered your site. Awesome! If I had the skills, creativity, and energy to create a blog, it would be just like this. Thank you.

  28. Dai permalink
    July 19, 2010 1:31 am

    Also have to concur with the comments regarding what a great site you have put together – you have shown the potential of what a a blog site can be! In regards to the good Doctor, what a fantastic humourist he was, he can always make me laugh out loud. Which is where I think the Fear & Loathing movie fails miserably, all the humour is missing. Now if the movie had been made by the director of Withnail & I…

  29. November 27, 2010 7:25 pm

    im loving this what a hero Hunter was R.I.P

  30. Peter permalink
    December 1, 2010 2:06 am

    Hunter S Thompson.

    WHAT CAN ONE SAY ABOUT A TRUE HERO ????.

    Thompson is the ideal we’d all like to be a true MAN some-one who lived life on the edge and to the LIMIT.

    Might have taken me longer than most but FINALLY I understand his teachings and the wisdom he imparts.

    The Spirit of the Gonzo Journalist LIVING and EXPERIENCING EVERYTHING but being bound by NOTHING.

    LIFELIVINGADVENTUREEXPIERENCE all this is to precious to waste by living a smug servile contented semi existance bound by so called conventions.

    Cause the people who proclaim respect for these alleged conventions are often the VILEST HYPOCRITIC SCUM IMAGINABLE so long as you live by what is good for them and NOTHING else you are accepted.

    BUT step OUT and see what hapens the hypocritical scum attack you and try to take away your freedom.

    Well Our Guru Hunter S Thompson IGNORED AND DEFIED THOSE SCUM and by so doing has become the standard by which to measuer ourselves.

    I now (in a paleish imitation) of Thompson am LIVING.

    is there a face book source for Hunter S Thompson???.

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