--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anybody, at any time, may equally find…" description: "\"Anybody, at any time, may equally find himself victim or executioner.\" — Gore Vidal" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/gore-vidal-466_equally_anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-him_1618916.jpg" --- # Anybody, at any time, may equally find himself victim or… ![“Anybody, at any time, may equally find himself victim or executioner.” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/gore-vidal-466_equally_anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-him_1618916.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/gore-vidal-466_equally_anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-him_1618916.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/gore-vidal-466_equally_anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-him_1618916.jpg) > “Anybody, at any time, may equally find himself victim or executioner.” [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. People can become either victim or perpetrator depending on circumstances and choices. **In simple terms:** We can be victim or executioner. Key Takeaway Recognize and shape your role. Themes responsibility choice power morality Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal crises - legal judgments - conflict resolution - social movements Key Concepts agency ethical duality Questions to Reflect On - What determines when you become a victim or executioner? - How can you prevent becoming the executioner? A Different Perspective Power can be limited by external forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Equally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equally/) [Equally Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equally-victim-243071/) [Executioner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/executioner/) [Executioners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/executioners/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) [Victim Executioner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim-executioner-243072/) ## Related quotes > [“We live in a world where one needs to choose - to be the victim or the executioner, and nothing else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/we-live-in-a-world-where-one-needs-to-choose-to-be-the-victim-or-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [It would perhaps be nice to be alternately the victim and the executioner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/it-would-perhaps-be-nice-to-be-alternately-the-victim-and-the/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [I am the wound and the knife! I am the slap and the cheek! I am the limbs and the rack, And the victim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/i-am-the-wound-and-the-knife-i-am-the-slap-and-the-cheek-i-am-the/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [To put the point sharply: If an informer in the French underground who sent a friend to the torture chambers of the Gestapo was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-maltz/to-put-the-point-sharply-if-an-informer-in-the-french-underground-who/) [Albert Maltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-maltz/) > [Conscience, the executioner, shaking her secret scourge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/conscience-the-executioner-shaking-her-secret-scourge/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Bob Dylan said, "The executioner's face is always well-hidden". That's the problem: The cross pulls that hood off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/bob-dylan-said-the-executioner-s-face-is-always-well-hidden-that-s/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [You do not cut a check in the state of Kansas to John Doe, executioner. The executioner is paid in cash so there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-plimpton/you-do-not-cut-a-check-in-the-state-of-kansas-to-john-doe-executioner/) [George Plimpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-plimpton/) > [The executioner is, I believe, very expert; and my neck is very slender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-boleyn/the-executioner-is-i-believe-very-expert-and-my-neck-is-very-slender/) [Anne Boleyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-boleyn/) > [I'm not your executioner. I'm not your devil and I'm not your God. I'm Charles Manson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-manson/i-m-not-your-executioner-i-m-not-your-devil-and-i-m-not-your-god-i-m/) [Charles Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-manson/) > [On his mounting the scaffold to be beheaded: 'I pray you, Master Lieutenant, see me safely up, and for my coming down, let me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-more/on-his-mounting-the-scaffold-to-be-beheaded-i-pray-you-master/) [Thomas More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-more/) > [Am I missing something because of my lack of education? Being an intellectual - I'm not. So I hire him as a corner man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-schiller/am-i-missing-something-because-of-my-lack-of-education-being-an/) [Lawrence Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-schiller/) > [Yet is every man his greatest enemy, and, as it were, his own executioner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/yet-is-every-man-his-greatest-enemy-and-as-it-were-his-own-executioner/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am the Executioner. Murder someone in my town, and I’m the one that you get to see. Once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/i-am-the-executioner-murder-someone-in-my-town-and-i-m-the-one-that/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [I knew from the moment I heard you, the moment I saw the gun and realized that this lovely, petit woman was the executioner,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/i-knew-from-the-moment-i-heard-you-the-moment-i-saw-the-gun-and/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Capital punishment kills immediately, whereas lifetime imprisonment does so slowly. Which executioner is more humane? The one who kills you in a few minutes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/capital-punishment-kills-immediately-whereas-lifetime-imprisonment/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) ## More by Gore Vidal > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. 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. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/style-is-knowing-who-you-are-what-you-want-to-say-and-not-giving-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. But we do know that the oligarchs are a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-oligarchs-think-that-the-people-are-both-dangerous-and-stupid/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. 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/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [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/) [Explore all 539 Gore Vidal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## More Equally quotes > [Sport is not just about entertainment. It is equally about winning and losing, pooling and galvanising the energy of the youth, upgrading people's physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nita-ambani/sport-is-not-just-about-entertainment-it-is-equally-about-winning-and/) [Nita Ambani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nita-ambani/) > [“Because, in the dark, I’m equally as frightening as any”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-ellis/because-in-the-dark-i-m-equally-as-frightening-as-any/) [Joy Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-ellis/) > [We're all equally important at the end of the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-staples/we-re-all-equally-important-at-the-end-of-the-day/) [Vince Staples](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-staples/) > [Most parts that can be played by one actor can equally well be played by another, but not this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-more/most-parts-that-can-be-played-by-one-actor-can-equally-well-be-played/) [Kenneth More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-more/) > [We know COVID-19 hasn't affected communities equally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-cooper/we-know-covid-19-hasn-t-affected-communities-equally/) [Roy Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-cooper/) > [Praise and blame, good and bad, even heat and cold, must be equally acceptable to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/praise-and-blame-good-and-bad-even-heat-and-cold-must-be-equally/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I think it eminently proper that a president should retire from active politics, and equally proper that he should be able to live in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/i-think-it-eminently-proper-that-a-president-should-retire-from/) [Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/) > [Strong female characters - even if they don't necessarily make the same decisions that we might - make such great narrative material, especially when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/strong-female-characters-even-if-they-don-t-necessarily-make-the-same/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [Frankly, we actresses are so much in a hurry. We feel we have very few years to shine in our career, so we neglect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/frankly-we-actresses-are-so-much-in-a-hurry-we-feel-we-have-very-few/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A government is just only when the whole people share equally in its protection and advantages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/a-government-is-just-only-when-the-whole-people-share-equally-in-its/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [If you're equally good as this Latin player, guess who's going to get sent home? I know a lot of players that are home…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-sheffield/if-you-re-equally-good-as-this-latin-player-guess-who-s-going-to-get/) [Gary Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-sheffield/) > [Rhythm, that's an essential part of cooking. The sound of a lovely song and the smell of some dish in the oven are equally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neneh-cherry/rhythm-that-s-an-essential-part-of-cooking-the-sound-of-a-lovely-song/) [Neneh Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neneh-cherry/) > [In the hands of good writers, you have the opportunity to present both sides of an opinion equally and that you leave it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/in-the-hands-of-good-writers-you-have-the-opportunity-to-present-both/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) > [Making fun of guys to get them to perform and prove themselves, that's always going to exist. But we have to equally celebrate them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gurian/making-fun-of-guys-to-get-them-to-perform-and-prove-themselves-that-s/) [Michael Gurian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gurian/) > [We are all born equally far from the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-knowles/we-are-all-born-equally-far-from-the-sun/) [John Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-knowles/) [Browse all 322 Equally quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equally/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anybody, at any time, may equally find himself victim or executioner.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gore Vidal" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-himself-victim-or-executioner/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Equally" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-himself-victim-or-executioner/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/gore-vidal-466_equally_anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-him_1618916.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/gore-vidal-466_equally_anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-him_1618916.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/gore-vidal-466_equally_anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-him_1618916.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Anybody, at any time, may equally find himself victim or executioner.” — Gore Vidal", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gore Vidal", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Anybody, at any time, may equally...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-himself-victim-or-executioner/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/anybody-at-any-time-may-equally-find-himself-victim-or-executioner/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```