
Hunter S. Thompson on finding your purpose - vinnyglennon
http://yourfriendshouse.com/uncategorised/hunter-s-thompson-on-finding-your-purpose/
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alistproducer2
Perfect quote for a developer sitting in a cube:

"....no one HAS to do something he doesn’t want to do for the rest of his
life. But then again, if that’s what you wind up doing, by all means convince
yourself that you HAD to do it. You’ll have lots of company."

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serve_yay
After reading something like this, I always wonder if the author later decided
"yeah that was pretty much bullshit". Especially if it was written in their
youth. I mean, people change their minds - I'm 33 and I know that I think
radically differently to when I was 23. When I'm 43, who knows.

~~~
rhgraysonii
He had a remarkable sense of worldview from a young age. At 17 he wrote:

"As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I'm not sure that I'm going
to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of
fate presses me to the dust and says 'you are nothing', I will be a writer."

His views changed a slight bit, but not much. He was truly a person who knew
himself.

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angersock
I think Thomposon would probably look with wry amusement on the orgiastic
capitalism of the enterpreneuring and wantrepreneuring class.

I'd love to see _Fear and Loathing in Startupistan_ , but I'm not a tenth the
writer that Thompson was.

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a3n
> there’s no better example of a life fully realised than the one of Hunter S.
> Thompson.

I wonder how much more he would have realized if he hadn't killed himself.

~~~
rhgraysonii
Sometimes people are just done. He couldn't live the way he wanted and was
ready to go. His note:

"No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming.
67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am
always bitchy. No Fun – for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old
age. Relax – This won’t hurt."

His son went outside and fired a shotgun in the air afterwards. He had known
it was coming and was ready.

Personally I'd like to go out on my own terms as well. Though I've no idea
when I'll be happy enough with what I've done to be 'ready' for such a thing.

~~~
a3n
Good points. He may have done this "rationally" (quotes because of huge
controversies and arguments, ignoring).

But the question remains, what might he have done if he lived. He may have
been done at that moment, but as his essay observes, people change with
experience. He may have been a completely different HRT in a few years, if he
had been open to it.

Maybe sometimes it's worth watching the grandchildren or the grass for a few
years, until you finally recognize a change in the world.

~~~
rhgraysonii
True, but compromising part of what made him great and sticking around
'because you might miss something' would also be the antithesis of how he
lived his life until that day. He wrote the following quote when he was quite
young, about a baseball player IIRC:

"Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension
they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow
confines of most men's reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions
exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of the rat race is
not yet final."

I find it quite interesting he became the embodiment of this himself. His
attitude of "Buy the ticket, take the ride" is what he embodied until the day
he died and knew the ride was over.

I personally would have loved to see him live on. Especially with regard to
the end of the Bush presidency and further actions in the middle east.

~~~
sudioStudio64
See my comment about Nash Bridges.talk about legends dying hard...

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sudioStudio64
[http://sharetv.com/shows/nash_bridges/trivia?mode=desktop](http://sharetv.com/shows/nash_bridges/trivia?mode=desktop)

He also made Nash Bridges with Don Johnson.

America had largely turned its back on this brilliant writer. He also wrote
for ESPN, I think? He should have been able to do whatever he wanted by the
end of his life. Instead...ESPN and Nash Bridges.

~~~
rhgraysonii
He actually loved writing for ESPN. His page 2 column was renowned. He
actually wrote one of the most eloquent and accurate statements on 9/11 the
morning of in that column.

[http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1250751](http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1250751)

He was an excellent sportswriter, and an even more extraordinary political
one. His influence is now gone in Rolling Stone, but he gave them their entire
ethos alongside Jan Wenner for years.

~~~
sudioStudio64
Right on. Thanks for that.

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EdwardCoffin
For what it's worth, this letter can also be found in The Proud Highway, also
known as The Fear and Loathing Letters, Volume I, which is a collection of
Thompson's correspondence.

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benihana
_Let’s assume that you think you have a choice of eight paths to follow (all
pre-defined paths, of course). And let’s assume that you can’t see any real
purpose in any of the eight. THEN — and here is the essence of all I’ve said —
you MUST FIND A NINTH PATH._

 _But a man who procrastinates in his CHOOSING will inevitably have his choice
made for him by circumstance._

That right HST quote always seems to materialize right when I need it.

