--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All I want is that Americans still be…" description: "\"All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.\" — Gore Vidal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/gore-vidal-466_able_all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-ab_53363.jpg" --- # All I want is that Americans still be able to read the… ![“All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/gore-vidal-466_able_all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-ab_53363.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/gore-vidal-466_able_all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-ab_53363.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b03/gore-vidal-466_able_all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-ab_53363.jpg) > “All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A modest wish that future Americans retain basic literacy, emphasizing the importance of fundamental education over grand ambitions. **In simple terms:** Preserving basic literacy for future generations. Key Takeaway Fundamental skills matter more than lofty goals. Themes education literacy humility future societal values Mood hopeful reflective Type aphorism social commentary When to use this quote - public school curricula - adult education programs - community literacy initiatives Key Concepts basic reading civic competence cultural continuity Practical Applications - policy advocacy for reading standards - design of literacy-focused curricula Questions to Reflect On - What does this say about our priorities? - How can we ensure literacy remains a societal focus? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Alphabet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet/) [Alphabet Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet-years-750309/) [Ambitious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambitious/) [Americans Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/americans-able-379111/) [Hundred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hundred/) [Read Alphabet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-alphabet-750308/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Americans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-americans-750310/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [The illiterate of the future will not be the man who cannot read the alphabet, but the one who cannot take a photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-illiterate-of-the-future-will-not-be-the-man-who-cannot-read-the/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [ “\[upon hearing that the school received funding for the football field, but not for any of the arts\] Well, we might never have another… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-o-guinn/upon-hearing-that-the-school-received-funding-for-the-football-field/) [Chris O'Guinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-o-guinn/) > [We're creating an ownership society in this country, where more Americans than ever will be able to open up their door where they live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/we-re-creating-an-ownership-society-in-this-country-where-more/) [George W. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perry/my-deal-is-have-a-flat-simple-tax-and-americans-want-americans-i-hope/) [Rick Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perry/) > [My records have done very well in Europe and I want Americans to like my music too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demis-roussos/my-records-have-done-very-well-in-europe-and-i-want-americans-to-like/) [Demis Roussos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demis-roussos/) > [Over the summer I thought that I would seek out non-Americans as friends, just for diversity's sake. 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Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Many people in the United States happen to believe that United States policy is wrong in Vietnam and the Vietcong are correct in wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/many-people-in-the-united-states-happen-to-believe-that-united-states/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. 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Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Sex is a continuum. You go through different phases along life's way... and if you don't, you've been sort of cheated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/sex-is-a-continuum-you-go-through-different-phases-along-life-s-way/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. Even their sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-do-not-admire-the-people-as-such-no-one-really-does-their-folk/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“One of the problems of a society as tightly controlled as ours is that we get so little information about what those of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/one-of-the-problems-of-a-society-as-tightly-controlled-as-ours-is/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The New York Times is the worst in that hardly anybody can write English over there. 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