Nixon Agonistes Quotes

“[T]he American fanatic has always suffered moral disorientation at the mere thought of anyone 'getting something for nothing'.”
― Garry Wills, Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man

“The tapes are the real man—mean, vindictive, panicky, striking first in anticipation of being struck, trying to lift his own friable self-esteem by shoving others down. Murray Kempton said he wanted to leave no fingerprints, but he went about it in such a way as to leave his fingerprints all over his story. Nixon’s real tragedy is that he never had the stature to be a tragic hero. He is the stuff of sad (almost heartbreaking) comedy.”
― Garry Wills, Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man