She was a fool, and so am I, and so is anyone who thinks he sees what God is Doing, [writes Bokonon]. Kurt Vonnegut More Quotes by Kurt Vonnegut More Quotes From Kurt Vonnegut You know who was a hero? Franklin Roosevelt. Kurt Vonnegut franklin hero knows The people who taught really knew their stuff. My chemistry teacher, Frank Wade, was actually a chemist. I was so lucky in a number of ways. Kurt Vonnegut numbers teacher people We used to have superb public schools. I guess we don't anymore, but, boy, the public schools were really something and I am a product of those in Indianapolis. Kurt Vonnegut used boys school I think jokes are a perfectly viable form of literature. Some critics take issue with me because I make my points and discuss my ideas with jokes, rather than with oceanic tragedy. Kurt Vonnegut issues ideas thinking It often is a terrible insult to some families if one of the kids turns out to be an artist and that's one way to really shake up the family if you haven't got nerve enough to turn into a homosexual. Kurt Vonnegut often-is artist kids One thing I hate about school committees today is that they cut arts programs out of the curriculum because they say the arts aren't a way to make a living. Kurt Vonnegut hate art school I've been drawing all my life, just as a hobby, without really having shows or anything. It's just an agreeable thing to do, and I recommend it to everybody. Kurt Vonnegut hobbies drawing shows All the new technology seems redundant to me. I was quite happy with the United States mail service. And, I don't even have an answering machine, for God's sake. Kurt Vonnegut machines united-states technology I was hoping to build a country and add to its literature. That's why I served in World War II, and that's why I wrote books. Kurt Vonnegut war country book Hitler at the end thought that he himself was one more casualty in the war. Kurt Vonnegut casualties ends war I taught writing for a while and whenever somebody would tell me they were going to write about their dad, I would tell them they might as well go write about killing puppies because neither story was going to work. It just doesn't work. Kurt Vonnegut dad stories writing In 1844, Karl Marx said, "Religion is the opiate of the masses." He said this at a time when opium and opium derivatives were the only painkillers. And he said it helped a little. He might as well have said, "Religion is the aspirin of the people." Kurt Vonnegut opiates aspirin people Also, I think that, you know, it's tribal behavior. I don't think that Pat Robertson, for instance, doubts that we evolved. He is simply representing a tribe. Kurt Vonnegut tribes doubt thinking If I were a physics teacher or a science teacher, it'd be on my mind all the time as how the hell we really got this way. It's a perfectly natural human thought and, okay, if you go into the science class you can't think this. Well, alright, as soon as you leave you can start thinking about it again without giving aid and comfort to the lunatic fringe of the Christian religion. Kurt Vonnegut christian teacher thinking Where you can see tribal behavior now is in this business about teaching evolution in a science class and intelligent design. It's the scientists themselves are behaving tribally. Kurt Vonnegut intelligent teaching class But anyway, it's obvious through human experience that extended families and tribes are terribly important. We can do without an extended family as human beings about as easily as we can do without vitamins or essential minerals. Kurt Vonnegut vitamins essentials important After that demonstration everybody was thinking, what's going to happen to these wonderful men who have been so useful to us? We have to give people something to do with life. Kurt Vonnegut men people thinking When I worked with General Electric, again this was soon after the Second World War, you know, I was keeping up with new developments and they showed me a milling machine and this thing worked by punch cards - that's where computers were at that time, and everybody was sort of sheepish about how well this thing worked because in those days machinists were treated as though they were great musicians because they were virtuosos on these machines. Kurt Vonnegut musician war cards I hope that my ideas attract a lively dialogue, even if my sentences are simple. Simple sentences have always served me well. And I don't use semicolons. It's hard to read anyway, especially for high school kids. Also, I avoid irony, too. I don't like people saying one thing and meaning the other. Kurt Vonnegut simple kids school Truth can be really powerful stuff if you're not expecting it. Kurt Vonnegut expecting powerful stuff
