Biographile’s This Week in History remembers events of the past, and the icons that set them in motion. If you're stirred by the words below, read on for more inspiring author quotes.

Famed author, essayist and gleeful agitator Gore Vidal -- born this week in history on October 3, 1925 -- was the most lovable grouch the world has known. The only time Vidal wasn't disparaging the modern political system or berating our culture of consumerism and conformity was when he slept. Even then, he likely dreamed of a new plan of attack.

He spoke frankly and without consequence, scratching at the fabric of American society, and seeing ulterior motives where others saw altruism. "You know, I've been around the ruling class all my life," he said, "and I've been quite aware of their total contempt for the people of the country." But while the cross-hairs of his indignation were wild and indiscriminate, they were -- more importantly -- almost always valid. His remarks regarding human sexuality were profound and far ahead of his time. His notes on the American political system, while boorish and selective, always highlighted an ironic truth to society, one politicians and the public were too scared or tired or busy to acknowledge. And on his spare time he delighted in flustering Norman Mailer or making a fool of William Buckley.

The only form of loyalty he possessed was to the supremacy of his own ideas: "There is no human problem which could not be solved if people would simply do as I advise." But such megalomania and pretension was tempered by his rich sense of humor and story-telling. Vidal wrote over thirty novels, dozens of plays, and a wealth of nonfiction works ranging from essays to memoirs. He was wonderfully forthright and honest in his self-assessment, perfectly comfortable with his own flaws. You might not like the way he said it, but you'd be hard-pressed to disagree with the content of his convictions. Though he'd shudder to think of it, his personality ended up being quite endearing. Paul Newman, one of his most intimate friends, could attest to that truth.

For more on the grouchy charm of one of America's greatest expat thinkers, behold the full glory of Vidal's acerbic wit with the nine quotes below.

1. "A narcissist is someone better looking than you are." (Quoted in "Vidal: 'I'm at the Top of a Very Tiny Heap,'" profile by Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times, 12 March 1981, Late City Final Edition, Section C, Page 17, Column 1)

2. "Never pass up a chance to have sex or appear on television." (Quoted by Bob Chieger, Was It Good For You, Too?, 1983)

3. "Everybody likes a bit of gossip to some point, as long as it’s gossip with some point to it. That’s why I like history. History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true." (Quoted in Gert Jonkers, "Gore Vidal, the Fantastic Man," Butt, No. 20, 7 April 2007)

4. "The United States was founded by the brightest people in the country — and we haven't seen them since." (Matters of Fact and Fiction : Essays 1973 - 1976, 1978 "The State of the Union," 1975)

5. "You know, I've been around the ruling class all my life, and I've been quite aware of their total contempt for the people of the country." (Gore Vidal's America, 2009 - On the Media)

6. "...American society, literary or lay, tends to be humorless. What other culture could have produced someone like Hemingway and not seen the joke?" ("Edmund Wilson: This Critic and This Gin and These Shoes")

7. "Don’t ever make the mistake with people like me thinking we are looking for heroes. There aren’t any and if there were, they would be killed immediately. I’m never surprised by bad behaviour. I expect it." (The Times Online, 30 September 2009)

8. "You hear all this whining going on, 'Where are our great writers?' The thing I might feel doleful about is: Where are the readers?" (What I've Learned, 2008)

9. "To be categorized is, simply, to be enslaved." (Celebrity: The Advocate Interviews. New York, NY: Advocate Books. p. 127.)