Being an American means never having to say you're sorry. Kurt Vonnegut More Quotes by Kurt Vonnegut More Quotes From Kurt Vonnegut What's the point of being alive," she said, "if you're not going to communicate? Kurt Vonnegut communicate alive said I'm not a drug salesman. I'm a writer. Kurt Vonnegut salesman drug writing Because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs. So people pretend there is drama where there is none. Kurt Vonnegut movie drama book Americans... are forever searching for love in forms it never takes, in places it can never be. It must have something to do with the vanished frontier. Kurt Vonnegut searching-for-love cradle forever If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you're a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind. Kurt Vonnegut kings success jobs Freud said he didn't know what women wanted. I know what women want. They want a whole lot of people to talk to. Kurt Vonnegut want said people I can't tell if you're serious or not,' said the driver. I won't know myself until I find out if life is serious or not,' said Trout. 'It's dangerous, I know, and it can hurt a lot. That doesn't necessarily mean it's serious, too. Kurt Vonnegut trout hurt mean I've got news for Mr. Santayana: we're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive. Kurt Vonnegut news alive past A sane person to an insane society must appear insane. Kurt Vonnegut sane insane persons 1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them. Kurt Vonnegut pride truth children It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds. And what do the birds say? All there is to say about a massacre, things like "Poo-tee-weet? Kurt Vonnegut slaughterhouse-five intelligent bird Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia. Kurt Vonnegut pneumonia making-love writing Never trust a survivor until you know how they survived. Kurt Vonnegut never-trust know-how survivor Human beings will be happier - not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia. Kurt Vonnegut cancer community lakes Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber. Kurt Vonnegut slaughterhouse-five wisdom philosophy No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful. Kurt Vonnegut music government religious The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries. Kurt Vonnegut desks library america Music is, to me, proof of the existence of God. Kurt Vonnegut proof existence god Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae. Kurt Vonnegut rejection editors writing That’s the secret of artistic unity. Anybody can achieve it, if he or she will make something with only one person in mind. Kurt Vonnegut unity secret mind