Kurt Vonnegut Quotes

A collection of quotes by Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and influential novels. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Vonnegut joined the U.S. Army during World War II and was captured as a prisoner of war during the Battle of the Bulge. His experiences as a POW heavily influenced his later literary work.

After the war, Vonnegut studied anthropology at the University of Chicago and began his career as a writer. His breakthrough novel, "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1969), brought him widespread acclaim and is considered a classic of American literature. The novel drew upon Vonnegut's personal experiences during the bombing of Dresden, offering a poignant and darkly humorous reflection on the absurdity of war and its destructive consequences.

Vonnegut's novels often featured a blend of science fiction, black humor, and social criticism. Some of his other notable works include "Cat's Cradle" (1963), "Breakfast of Champions" (1973), and "Mother Night" (1961). With his unique blend of wit, compassion, and cynicism, Vonnegut explored profound themes like the human condition, the dangers of technology, and the follies of society.

Throughout his career, Vonnegut received numerous accolades for his literary contributions and became a respected voice in American literature. His writing style, characterized by concise prose and biting social commentary, continues to inspire and resonate with readers worldwide. Vonnegut's impact on contemporary literature is undeniable, making him one of America's most celebrated and influential authors.

The two real political parties in America are the Winners an

The two real political parties in America are the Winners and the Losers. The people don't acknowledge this. They claim membership in two imaginary parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, instead.

Politics

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.

Character

I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled S

I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled Science Fiction and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal.

Science Fiction

We are all what we pretend to be, but, we had better be very

We are all what we pretend to be, but, we had better be very careful what we pretend.

People

There's only one me, and I'm stuck with him.

There's only one me, and I'm stuck with him.

Self Love

Thinking doesn't seem to help very much. The human brain is

Thinking doesn't seem to help very much. The human brain is too high-powered to have many practical uses in this particular universe.

Mind

There is nothing left of him but curiosity and a pair of eye

There is nothing left of him but curiosity and a pair of eyes.

Curiosity

It was a thunderingly beautiful experience -- voluptuous, se

It was a thunderingly beautiful experience -- voluptuous, sexual, dangerous, and expensive as hell.

Space

Title: What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth,

Title: What Can a Thoughtful Man Hope for Mankind on Earth, Given the Experience of the Past Million Years? Only verse: Nothing.

Advice

During my most recently controlled near-death experience, I

During my most recently controlled near-death experience, I got to interview William Shakespeare. We did not hit it off. He said the dialect I spoke was the ugliest English he had ever heard, fit to split the ears of groundlings. He asked if it had a name, and I said Indianapolis.

Experience Death

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.

Age

One of the few good things about modern times If you die hor

One of the few good things about modern times If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us.

A joke is like building a mousetrap from scratch. You have t

A joke is like building a mousetrap from scratch. You have to work pretty hard to make the thing snap when it is supposed to snap.

Work

This script, it seems to me, is the work of professionals wh

This script, it seems to me, is the work of professionals who yearned to be as charming as inspired amateurs can sometimes be.

Work

He ransacked his memory like a thief going through another m

He ransacked his memory like a thief going through another man's billfold.

Man

My father said When in doubt, castle.

My father said When in doubt, castle.

Doubt

What he meant, of course, was that there would always be war

What he meant, of course, was that there would always be wars, that they were as easy to stop as glaciers. I believe that, too.And even if wars didn't keep coming like glaciers, there would still be plain old death.

Death Truth Anti War Dark Favourite Quote

A lot of the nonsense was the innocent result of playfulness

A lot of the nonsense was the innocent result of playfulness on the part of the founding fathers of the nation of Dwayne Hoover and Kilgore Trout. The founders were aristocrats, and they wished to show off their useless eduction, which consisted of the study of hocus-pocus from ancient times. They were bum poets as well. But some of the nonsense was evil, since it concealed great crime. For example, teachers of children in the United States of America wrote this date on blackboards again and again, and asked the children to memorize it with pride and joy:1492The teachers told the children that this was when their continent was discovered by human beings. Actually, millions of human beings were already living full and imaginative lives on the continent in 1492. That was simply the year in which sea pirates began to cheat and rob and kill them.Here was another piece of nonsense which children were taught: that the sea pirates eventually created a government which became a beacon of freedom of human beings everywhere else. There were pictures and statues of this supposed imaginary beacon for children to see. It was sort of ice-cream cone on fire. It looked like this:[image]Actually, the sea pirates who had the most to do with the creation of the new government owned human slaves. They used human beings for machinery, and, even after slavery was eliminated, because it was so embarrassing, they and their descendants continued to think of ordinary human beings as machines.The sea pirates were white. The people who were already on the continent when the pirates arrived were copper-colored. When slavery was introduced onto the continent, the slaves were black.Color was everything.Here is how the pirates were able to take whatever they wanted from anybody else: they had the best boats in the world, and they were meaner than anybody else, and they had gunpowder, which is a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulphur. They touched the seemingly listless powder with fire, and it turned violently into gas. This gas bl

Humor Funny America History

Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exis

Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything.

Humor Funny Growing Up Disillusionment

High school is closer to the core of the American experience

High school is closer to the core of the American experience than anything else I can think of.

Experience