82+ Best Hunter S. Thompson Quotes: Exclusive Selection

Counterculture icon Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist best known for writing 1971’s ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, and the founder of the gonzo journalism movement. Famous Hunter S. Thompson quotes will inspire you to start your day with enthusiasm and make you enjoy life to the absolute fullest.

If you’re searching for quotes from inspiring figures that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of best Charles Krauthammer quotes, Ruth Bader Ginsburg quotes, and famous quotes by Dorothy Parker.

Most Famous Hunter S. Thompson Quotes

Too weird to live, too rare to die! Hunter S. Thompson

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

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

Buy the ticket, take the ride. Hunter S. Thompson

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

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Hunter S. Thompson

I was not proud of what I had learned but I never doubted that it was worth knowing. Hunter S. Thompson, Book: The Rum Diary

Faster, Faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death. Hunter S. Thompson

In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. Hunter S. Thompson

Anything that gets your blood racing is probably worth doing.  Hunter S. Thompson

Hope rises and dreams flicker and die. Love plans for tomorrow and loneliness thinks of yesterday. Life is beautiful and living is pain. Hunter S. Thompson

Beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living WITHIN that way of life. Hunter S. Thompson

No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well maybe chalk it off to forced conscious expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten. Hunter S. Thompson

Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously. Hunter S. Thompson

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

Too weird to live, too rare to die! Hunter S. Thompson

Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S. Thompson

Life is beautiful and living is pain. Hunter S. Thompson

Freedom is something that dies unless it’s used. Hunter S. Thompson

Sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind but falling in love and not getting arrested. Hunter S. Thompson

When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional. Hunter S. Thompson

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

He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master. Hunter S. Thompson

Walk tall, kick ass, learn to speak Arabic, love music and never forget you come from a long line of truth seekers, lovers and warriors. Hunter S. Thompson

Se without love is as hollow and ridiculous as love without sec. Hunter S. Thompson

There’s a terrible danger in voting for the lesser of two evils because the parties can set it up that way. Hunter S. Thompson

As long as I’m learning something, I figure I’m OK  it’s a decent day. Hunter S. Thompson

You can’t miss what you never had. Hunter S. Thompson

I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine to five hours. Hunter S. Thompson

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. Hunter S. Thompson

There is no fool like a careless gambler who starts taking victory for granted. Hunter S. Thompson

Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed. Hunter S. Thompson

It is not necessary to accept the choices handed down to you by life as you know it. Hunter S. Thompson

We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and  in spite of True Romance magazines we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. Hunter S. Thompson

Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously. Hunter S. Thompson   

Hope rises and dreams flicker and die. Love plans for tomorrow and loneliness thinks of yesterday. Life is beautiful and living is pain. Hunter S. Thompson

If you’re going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you’re going to be locked up Hunter S. Thompson

Freedom is something that dies unless it’s used. Hunter S. Thompson

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

There is no story unless you’ve written it. Hunter S. Thompson

Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed. Hunter S. Thompson

On some nights, I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S. Thompson

How much do you value your freedom? Would you trade for some illusion of security? Freedom is something that dies unless it’s used. Hunter S. Thompson

Call on God, but row away from the rocks. Hunter S. Thompson

I haven’t found a drug yet that can get you anywhere near as high as sitting at a desk writing, trying to imagine a story no matter how bizarre it is. Hunter S. Thompson

I will fight for your right to be weird just as I know you will fight for me. Hunter S. Thompson

Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshiped and fondled like a priceless diamond. Hunter S. Thompson

Sex without love is as hollow and ridiculous as love without sex. Hunter S. Thompson

There he goes. One of God’s own prototypes. A high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die. Hunter S. Thompson

The possibility of physical and mental collapse is now very real. No sympathy for the Devil, keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride. Hunter S. Thompson

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

Human beings are the only creatures on earth that claim a God and the only thing that behaves like it hasn’t got one. Hunter S. Thompson

Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives and to the good life whatever it is and wherever it happens to be. Hunter S. Thompson

It never got weird enough for me. Hunter S. Thompson

I drink much less than most people think, and I think much more than most people would believe. I am quite sincere about some of the things that people take very lightly, and almost insultingly unconcerned about some of the things which most people take seriously. In short, I am basically antisocial: certainly not to an alarming degree, but just more so than I appear to me. Hunter S. Thompson

In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. Hunter S. Thompson

Yesterday’s weirdness is tomorrow’s reason why. Hunter S. Thompson

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

On some days you get what you want, and on others, you get what you need. Hunter S. Thompson

You won’t find reasonable men on the tops of tall mountains. Hunter S. Thompson  

I believe the Republicans have never thought that democracy was anything but a tribal myth. Hunter S. Thompson

If you get people asking the wrong questions, you don’t have to worry about the answers. Hunter S. Thompson

Absolute truth is a very rare and dangerous commodity in the context of professional journalism. Hunter S. Thompson

I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness. Hunter S. Thompson

If you can’t make yourself understood by your friends, you’ll be in trouble when your enemies come for you. Hunter S. Thompson

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

It was obvious that he was a man who marched through life to the rhythms of some drum I would never hear Hunter S. Thompson

Kill the body and the head will die. Hunter S. Thompson

Sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whiskey and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind but falling in love and not getting arrested. Hunter S. Thompson

Ah, that we lack the courage of our romantic convictions; and thereby miss the wine of life, forgoing the very thing that makes living worthwhile. Hunter S. Thompson

Journalism, to me, is just another drug  a free ride to scenes I’d probably miss if I stayed straight. Hunter S. Thompson

She was wearing the same clothes, but now she looked haggard and dirty. The delicate illusions that get us through life can only stand so much strain. Hunter S. Thompson

Some may never live, but the crazy never die. Hunter S. Thompson

Take it from me, there’s nothing like a job well done. Except the quiet enveloping darkness at the bottom of a bottle of Jim Beam after a job done any way at all. Hunter S. Thompson

It is not necessary to accept the choices handed down to you by life as you know it. Hunter S. Thompson

One of them is knowing the difference between Morality and Wisdom. Morality is temporary, Wisdom is permanent Ho ho. Take that one to bed with you tonight. Hunter S. Thompson

The greatest mania of all is passion: and I am a natural slave to passion: the balance between my brain and my soul and my body is as wild and delicate as the skin of a Ming vase. Hunter S. Thompson

We must ride this strange torpedo out until the end. Hunter S. Thompson

In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. Hunter S. Thompson

There is no such thing as paranoia. Your worst fears can come true at any moment. Hunter S. Thompson