Sometimes I think it is a great mistake to have matter that can think and feel. It complains so. Kurt Vonnegut More Quotes by Kurt Vonnegut More Quotes From Kurt Vonnegut About belief or lack of belief in an afterlife: Some of you may know that I am neither Christian nor Jewish nor Buddist, nor a conventionally religious person of any sort. I am a humanist, which mean, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishments after I'm dead. Kurt Vonnegut religiouschristianmean If your brains were dynamite there wouldn't be enough to blow your hat off. Kurt Vonnegut stupidblowbrain Somebody gets into trouble, then gets out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it. Kurt Vonnegut tiredwritingpeople Smoking is the only honorable form of suicide. Kurt Vonnegut formsuicidesmoking I still catch myself feeling sad about things that don’t matter anymore. Kurt Vonnegut feeling-sadmatterfeelings Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies - "God damn it, you've got to be kind." Kurt Vonnegut hipstersummerbaby A saint is a person who behaves decently in a shockingly indecent society. Kurt Vonnegut behavesaintpersons America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves... It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. Kurt Vonnegut hatewisemen During the Vietnam War, which lasted longer than any war we've ever been in - and which we lost - every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high. Kurt Vonnegut artistwarcountry 'You hate America, don't you?' Kurt Vonnegut painhatereal Doesn't anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public schools, or health insurance for all? Kurt Vonnegut socialismwantschool Still and all, why bother? Here's my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone. Kurt Vonnegut peopleneedsthinking Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college. Kurt Vonnegut creativecollegewriting A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved. Kurt Vonnegut inspiringlovelife Nobody will stop you from creating. Do it tonight. Do it tomorrow. That is the way to make your soul grow. Kurt Vonnegut creatingtonightsoul Socialism" is no more an evil word than "Christianity." Socialism no more prescribed Joseph Stalin and his secret police and shuttered churches than Christianity prescribed the Spanish Inquisition. Christianity and socialism alike, in fact, prescribe a society dedicated to the proposition that all men, women, and children are created equal and shall not starve. Kurt Vonnegut evilmenchildren There is love enough in this world for everybody, if people will just look. Kurt Vonnegut lovelifepeople Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. Kurt Vonnegut strangeruseway And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is. Kurt Vonnegut inspirationallovelife Nobody will stop you from creating. Do it tonight. Do it tomorrow. That is the way to make your soul grow - whether there is a market for it or not! The kick of creation is the act of creating, not anything that happens afterward. I would tell all of you watching this screen: Before you go to bed, write a four line poem. Make it as good as you can. Don't show it to anybody. Put it where nobody will find it. And you will discover that you have your reward. Kurt Vonnegut creativitywritinglife
