Quotes from work
The Rum Diary

The Rum Diary
Hunter S. Thompson

The Rum Diary is an early novel by American writer Hunter S. Thompson. It was written in the early 1960s but was not published until 1998. The manuscript, begun in 1959, was discovered amongst Thompson's papers by Johnny Depp. The story involves a journalist named Paul Kemp who, in the 1950s, moves from New York to work for a major newspaper, The Daily News, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is Thompson's second novel, preceded by the still-unpublished Prince Jellyfish.

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“I was not proud of what I had learned but I never doubted that it was worth knowing.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“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 The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“He had come so far from himself that I don't
think he knew who he was anymore.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“He wandered into the Newsroom and asked for a job the same way he’d walk into a barbershop and ask for a haircut, and with no more idea of being turned down.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“He gave my hand a final shake. “Okay, Kemp,” he said with a grin. “Thanks a lot – you came through like a champ.” “Hell,” I said, starting the engine. “We’re all champs when we’re drunk.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to those who see it coming and jump aside.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: 1990s, The Rum Diary (1998)

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“It gave me a strange feeling, and the rest of that night I didn’t say much, but merely sat there and drank, trying to decide if I was getting older and wiser, or just plain old.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“I had come to regard him as a loner with no real past and a future so vague there was no sense talking about it.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: 1990s, The Rum Diary (1998)

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“There was an awful suspicion in my mind that I'd finally gone over the hump, and the worst thing about it was that I didn't feel tragic at all, but only weary, and sort of comfortably detached.”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“Whatever he might have denied me was unimportant; it was the
fact that he could deny me anything at all, even what I didn't want”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“and the sad notes floated out to the
patio and hung in the trees like birds too tired to fly”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

Hunter S. Thompson photo

“sounds of life and movement, people getting ready and people giving up, the sound of hope and the sound of hanging on, and behind them all, the quiet, deadly ticking of a thousand hungry clocks…”

Hunter S. Thompson The Rum Diary

Source: The Rum Diary

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