--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I loved Gore Vidal's Burr. That book gave…" description: "\"I loved Gore Vidal's Burr. That book gave me courage.\" — Hilary Mantel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea5/hilary-mantel-440_book_i-loved-gore-vidal-s-burr-that-book-gave_371684.jpg" --- # I loved Gore Vidal's Burr. That book gave me courage. ![“I loved Gore Vidal's Burr. That book gave me courage.” quote by Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea5/hilary-mantel-440_book_i-loved-gore-vidal-s-burr-that-book-gave_371684.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea5/hilary-mantel-440_book_i-loved-gore-vidal-s-burr-that-book-gave_371684.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ea5/hilary-mantel-440_book_i-loved-gore-vidal-s-burr-that-book-gave_371684.jpg) > “I loved Gore Vidal's Burr. That book gave me courage.” [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading Gore Vidal's novel 'Burr' inspired courage in the reader. **In simple terms:** The book gave the reader bravery. Key Takeaway Seek inspiration from literature. Themes courage inspiration literature Mood reflective motivational Type literary personal When to use this quote - reading for motivation - studying biographies - creative writing Key Concepts historical fiction personal empowerment Questions to Reflect On - Which characters embody the courage you seek? - How can you translate that courage into daily actions? A Different Perspective Inspiration may be temporary without action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Burrs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/burrs/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gore/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I read Noam Chomsky. I like some of Gore Vidal's stuff.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cusack/i-read-noam-chomsky-i-like-some-of-gore-vidal-s-stuff/) [John Cusack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cusack/) > [I always want to read Gore Vidal's nonfiction. Because everything he writes is an essay and it's worth reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-busch/i-always-want-to-read-gore-vidal-s-nonfiction-because-everything-he/) [Frederick Busch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-busch/) > [Gore Vidal, the American writer, once described the American economic system as 'free enterprise for the poor and socialism for the rich'. Macroeconomic policy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ha-joon-chang/gore-vidal-the-american-writer-once-described-the-american-economic/) [Ha-Joon Chang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ha-joon-chang/) > [I wrote a piece from North Korea called Visit to a Small Planet which is a line I stole from a play of Gore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-wrote-a-piece-from-north-korea-called-visit-to-a-small-planet-which/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Gore Vidal has been a friend of mine for years, and he's one of the greatest writers in American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/gore-vidal-has-been-a-friend-of-mine-for-years-and-he-s-one-of-the/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [Dreadful is a poignant biography of a forgotten man who drank himself to death. It's a brilliant evocation of a self-hating gay novelist in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/dreadful-is-a-poignant-biography-of-a-forgotten-man-who-drank-himself/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [I stayed at 'Cosmo' well beyond my internship, moving up the ranks over some 15 years to become books editor, then brand director, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searles/i-stayed-at-cosmo-well-beyond-my-internship-moving-up-the-ranks-over/) [John Searles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searles/) > [Gore Vidal said "Nixon is us, we are Nixon." I think we have to acknowledge that combination of idealism and sleaze; we want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/gore-vidal-said-nixon-is-us-we-are-nixon-i-think-we-have-to/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [The whole book experience was a look into another world, the world of Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-kramer/the-whole-book-experience-was-a-look-into-another-world-the-world-of/) [Jerry Kramer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-kramer/) > [The novel ceases to be looked at as a novel. Such is the overwhelming power of motion pictures. Gore Vidal pointed out that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-monahan/the-novel-ceases-to-be-looked-at-as-a-novel-such-is-the-overwhelming/) [William Monahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-monahan/) > [Gore Vidal, Glenn Greenwald, Noam Chomsky, all these guys talk about how the United States became a national security state after World War II.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hastings/gore-vidal-glenn-greenwald-noam-chomsky-all-these-guys-talk-about-how/) [Michael Hastings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hastings/) > [They don't make people like Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-neville/they-don-t-make-people-like-gore-vidal-and-william-f-buckley-anymore/) [Morgan Neville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-neville/) > [I used to read Gore Vidal books and think I was cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-smith/i-used-to-read-gore-vidal-books-and-think-i-was-cool/) [Matt Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-smith/) > [There will be a debate on Firing Line between Buckley and Gore Vidal on the proposition: "This nation cannot survive as long as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-stanton-evans/there-will-be-a-debate-on-firing-line-between-buckley-and-gore-vidal/) [M. Stanton Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-stanton-evans/) > [A couple of years ago my friend and business partner Jeffrey Richards was doing the Gore Vidal play, The Best Man, starring James Earl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hart/a-couple-of-years-ago-my-friend-and-business-partner-jeffrey-richards/) [Chris Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hart/) ## More by Hilary Mantel > [People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/people-will-identify-with-a-persecuted-minority-without-asking/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“The hunter is among the most innocent of men; living in the moment makes him feel pure. When he returns in the evening, his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/the-hunter-is-among-the-most-innocent-of-men-living-in-the-moment/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“But what would happen … I mean, what would be so awful … if they did meet up?” “Why, it would be like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/but-what-would-happen-i-mean-what-would-be-so-awful-if-they-did-meet/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/when-you-have-committed-enough-words-to-paper-you-feel-you-have-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [At New Year's he had given Anne a present of silver forks with handles of rock crystal. He hopes she will use them to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/at-new-year-s-he-had-given-anne-a-present-of-silver-forks-with/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“The story of my own childhood is a complicated sentence that I am always trying to finish, to finish and put behind me. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/the-story-of-my-own-childhood-is-a-complicated-sentence-that-i-am/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“He wants to say, because Anne is not a carnal being, she is a calculating being, with a cold slick brain at work behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/he-wants-to-say-because-anne-is-not-a-carnal-being-she-is-a/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Come to that, don't pay out good money for horoscopes. If things are going to go badly for you, is that what you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/come-to-that-don-t-pay-out-good-money-for-horoscopes-if-things-are/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“But my sins are my strength, he thinks; the sins I have done, that others have not even found the opportunity of committing. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/but-my-sins-are-my-strength-he-thinks-the-sins-i-have-done-that/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [Feminism hasn't failed, it's just never been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/feminism-hasn-t-failed-it-s-just-never-been-tried/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Mirabeau: “If you have been told to clear us from this hall, you must ask for orders to use force. We shall leave our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/mirabeau-if-you-have-been-told-to-clear-us-from-this-hall-you-must/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Cardinal Campeggio has implored Katherine to bow to the king's will, accept that her marriage is invalid and retire to a convent. Certainly, she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/cardinal-campeggio-has-implored-katherine-to-bow-to-the-king-s-will/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“Sion calls Anne an eel, he calls her a slippery dipper from the slime, and he remembers what the cardinal had called her: my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/sion-calls-anne-an-eel-he-calls-her-a-slippery-dipper-from-the-slime/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [I spend a great deal of time on research, on finding all the available accounts of a scene or incident, finding out all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/i-spend-a-great-deal-of-time-on-research-on-finding-all-the-available/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) > [“At the front, people die for their mistakes. Why should politicians be more gently treated? They made the war. 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. 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