In writing and politicking, it’s best not to think about it, just do it.

The line pairs two of Vidal’s lifelong arenas—literary production and political maneuvering—and treats them as crafts that reward decisive action over self-conscious rumination. Read this way, it’s a pragmatic credo: overthinking can paralyze both the writer facing the blank page and the political actor navigating shifting alliances. The advice also hints at Vidal’s skepticism toward moral posturing and elaborate rationalizations in public life; effectiveness often comes from doing the work (writing the sentence, making the move) rather than theorizing it. As a maxim, it elevates practice, nerve, and momentum above anxiety, perfectionism, or ideological purity.