Explanation Quote by Gore Vidal
“The American vice is explanation.”
About This Quote
Source Book: "The Last Great Society" by Gore Vidal, 1968
American culture often seeks explanations rather than solutions.
In simple terms: America loves explanations.
Key Takeaway
Focus on solutions over explanations.
Themes
culture
explanation
critique
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
philosophical
political
When to use this quote
- policy making
- media analysis
- public discourse
- education
Key Concepts
philosophy
sociology
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do we favor explanations?
- How can we shift to solution‑oriented thinking?
A Different Perspective
May ignore constructive action.
![“They [scientists of centuries past] call on God only from the lonely and precarious edge of incomprehension. Where they feel certain about their explanations, however, God gets hardly a mention.” quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0b0/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_century_they-scientists-of-centuries-past-call-o_12921.jpg)
![“[Barack Obama] will spend long periods of time explaining to people why he won't use it. At the end of the explanation, nobody knows why he still won't use it because the explanation is no good. And I mean, honestly we have a president that in my opinion really doesn't know what he's doing.” quote by Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/eb3/donald-trump-18_barack_barack-obama-will-spend-long-periods-of_29283.jpg)
