words, words, words...

A good friend forwarded the following quotations to me today, some lucid words by Gore Vidal, a man I consider to be among the most brilliant writers of our time. These are taken from a book of his collected non-fiction titled "At Home: Essays, 1982-1988":

"I have said very little about writers because writers have figured very little in our imperial story. The founders of both republic and empire wrote well: Jefferson and Hamilton, Lincoln and Grant, T.R. and the Adamses. Today public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can't read them either."

"When Confucius was asked what would be the first thing that he would do if he were to lead the state -- his never-to-be-fulfilled dream -- he said rectify the language . This is wise. This is subtle. As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: You liberate a city by destroying it. Words are used to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests. Finally, words must be so twisted as to justify an empire that has now ceased to exist, much less make sense."