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Kurt Vonnegut Quotes - Page 21

All Quotes Accidents Age Alcohol Apologizing Army Art Atheism Atheist Belief Bitterness Business Chaos Character Chemistry Children Christ Church College Communication Community Compassion Competition Country Creativity Culture Curiosity Dancing Democracy Design Dignity Doubt Dying Earth Evil Evolution Expectations Feelings Fighting Food Forgiveness Frustration Fun Funny Giving God Happiness Hard Work Hate Heart Heaven Hell Hiroshima Home Humanity Hurt Ignorance Imagination Inspirational Jazz Jesus Laughter Life Literature Loneliness Love Luck Lying Making Love Management Maturity Meaning Of Life Military Mountain Music Nature Opportunity Pain Past Philosophy Politics Progress Purpose Reading Reality Religion Revenge Running Safety School Science Science Fiction Shame Sleep Smoking Socialism Son Soul Students Stupidity Style Survival Teaching Technology Time Today Trade Tragedy Train Universe Waiting Wall War Water Wife Work Writing

One thing I learned, with permission of the school committee of Indianapolis, was that when a tyrant or a government gets in trouble it wonders what to do. Declare war! Then nothing else matters. It's like chess; when

One thing I learned, with permission of the school committee of Indianapolis, was that when a tyrant or a government gets in trouble it wonders what to do. Declare war! Then nothing else matters. It's like chess; when in doubt, castle.

War, School, Government

Interview with David Barsamian, www.sharedhost.progressive.org. June 12, 2003.

There is this thing called the university, and everybody goes there now. And there are these things called teachers who make students read this book with good ideas or that book with good ideas until that's where we get our ideas. We don't think them; we read them in books. I like Utopian talk, speculation about what our planet should be, anger about what our planet is. I think writers are the most important members of society, not just potentially but actually. Good writers must have and stand by their own ideas.

Teacher, Book, Writing

Beware of "grandfalloons" and "foma". A "grandfalloon" is a proud and meaningless association of human beings. "Foma" are harmless truths intended to comfort simple souls.

Simple, Soul, Comfort

Since Alice had never received any religious instruction, and since she had led a blameless life, she never thought of her awful luck as being anything but accidents in a very busy place. Good for her.

Religious, Luck, Awful

Kurt Vonnegut (2010). “Slapstick or Lonesome No More”, p.9, Random House

Just in the nick of time they realized that it was their own habitat they were wrecking -- that they weren't merely visitors.

Habitat, Visitors

Kurt Vonnegut (1999). “Galapagos: A Novel”, Dial Press

What the Gospels actually said was: don't kill anyone until you are absolutely sure they aren't well connected.

Religion, Said, Wells

The canary bird in the coal mine theory of the arts: artists should be treasured as alarm systems.

Art, Bird, Alarms

People need good lies. There are too many bad ones.

Lying, People, Needs

The youngest child in any family is always a jokemaker, because a joke is the only way he can enter into an adult conversation.

Children, Adults, Way

Kurt Vonnegut (2011). “A Man Without a Country”, p.1, Seven Stories Press

I saw the destruction of Dresden. I saw the city before and then came out of an air-raid shelter and saw it afterward, and certainly one response was laughter. God knows, that's the soul seeking some relief.

Laughter, Air, Cities

Kurt Vonnegut (2011). “A Man Without a Country”, p.3, Seven Stories Press

We are here for no purpose, unless we can invent one.

Meaning Of Life, Purpose

Kurt Vonnegut (2011). “Jailbird”, p.236, Random House

Mark Twain was so good with crowds that he became, in competition with singers and dancers and actors and acrobats, one of the most popular performers of his time. It is so unusual, and so psychologically unlikely, too, for a great writer to be a great performer, too.

Writing, Dancer, Competition

As for myself: I had come to the conclusion that there was nothing sacred about myself or about any human being, that we were all machines, doomed to collide and collide and collide.

Sacred, Machines, Conclusion

Kurt Vonnegut (1999). “Breakfast of Champions: Or, Goodbye Blue Monday!”, CNIB, 197

Reading a novel, War and Peace for example, is no Catnap. Because a novel is so long, reading one is like being married forever to somebody nobody knows or cares about.

War, Reading, Long

Kurt Vonnegut (1999). “Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction”, Putnam Publishing Group

He had the air of a spy in a melodrama, missing nothing, liking nothing, looking forward to the great day when everything would be turned upside down.

Air, Missing, Great Day

... humanity deserved to die horribly, since it had behaved so cruelly and wastefully on a planet so sweet.

Sweet, Humanity, Planets

Kurt Vonnegut (1999). “Breakfast of Champions: Or, Goodbye Blue Monday!”, CNIB, 197

Vonnegut could not help looking back, despite the danger of being turned metaphorically into a pillar of salt, into am emblem of the death that comes to those who cannot let go of the past

Letting Go, Memorable, Past

All right - I'll tell you what you did for me: you went for happy, silly, beautiful walks with me.

Beautiful, Silly, Walk With Me

Kurt Vonnegut (1998). “Bluebeard”, Dial Press

I was a student in the Department of Anthropology. At that time, they were teaching that there was absolutely no difference between anybody. They may be teaching that still.

Teaching, Differences, May

KURT VONNEGUT JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”

I am beguiled by your physical beauty, and I am moved by how head-over-heels in love with books you are. And nowhere else have I found such thoughtful and literate reportage on the state of the American soul, as that soul makes itself known in the books we write.

Book, Writing, Thoughtful

On the day they dropped the bomb Frank had a tablespoon and a Mason jar. What he was doing was spooning different kinds of bugs into the jar and making them fight....I can remember other bug fights we staged later on...They won't fight unless you keep shaking the jar.

Fighting, Different, Bombs

As in my other works of fiction: All persons living and dead are purely coincidental, and should not be construed. No names have been changed to protect the innocent. Angels protect the innocent as a matter of Heavenly routine.

Angel, Names, Matter

Kurt Vonnegut (1999). “Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction”, Putnam Publishing Group

Homo Americanus is going to go on speaking and writing the way he always has, no matter what dictionary he owns.

Writing, Goes On, Matter

"The Latest Word" by Kurt Vonnegut, www.nytimes.com. October 30, 1966.

1. Find a subject you care about. 2. Do not ramble, though. 3. Keep it simple. 4. Have the guts to cut. 5. Sound like yourself. 6. Say what you mean to say. 7. Pity the readers.

Mean, Cutting, Simple

FaceBook post by Kurt Vonnegut from Jan 12, 2015

I was clasified as a 'Science Fiction' writer simply because I wrote about Schenectady.

Fiction, Science Fiction, Fiction Writers

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