Quote

Never have I risked my life, or even my comfort, in the service of mankind. Shame on me.

Kurt Vonnegut

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Kurt Vonnegut
Age: 84 †
Born: 1922
Born: November 11
Died: 2007
Died: April 14
Author
Essayist
Journalist
Novelist
Peace Activist
Philosopher
Playwright
Science Fiction Writer
Screenwriter
Writer
Indianapolis
Indiana
Kurt Vonnegut
Jr.
Life
Risked
Shame
Service
Comfort
Mankind
Even
Never

More quotes by Kurt Vonnegut

Image
I wasn't aware of Ku Klux Klan as I was aware of the widespread assumption that African-Americans were dumber than white people. I think my father believed that. I think everybody white did.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
We are all experiments in enthusiasms, narrow and preordained.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
This is a nation tragedy, of course - that we've changed from a society to an audience.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee. I have also told them not to work for companies which make massacre machinery, and to express contempt for people who think we need machinery like that.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
Everything of mine which has been filmed so far has been one character short, and that character is me.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
They like life alright, but that they would like it even better if they could know that it was going to end sometime.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
The little girls were wearing black party dresses and black party shoes, so strangers would know at once how nice they were.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
The complicated futility of ignorance.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
Be fruitful, and multiply.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
You don't do art for any other reason than to help your soul grow.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
I didn't know then what a sperm was, and so wouldn't understand his answer for several years. My boy, he said, you are descended from a long line of determined, resourceful, microscopic tadpoles-- champions every one.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
Son--they say there isn't any royalty in this country, but do you want me to tell you how to be king of the United States of America? Just fall through the hole in a privy and come out smelling like a rose.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
The big trouble with dumb bastards is that they are too dumb to believe there is such a thing as being smart.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
What good is a planet called Earth, after all, if you own no land?
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
...this is a hard world to be ludicrous in, with so many human beings so reluctant to laugh, so incapable of thought, so eager to believe and snarl and hate.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
I think you guys are going to have to come up with a lot of wonderful new lies, or people just aren't going to want to go on living.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
You know who was a hero? Franklin Roosevelt.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
A book is an arrangement of twenty-six phonetic symbols, ten numerals, and about eight punctuation marks, and people can cast their eyes over these and envision the eruption of Mount Vesuvius or the Battle of Waterloo.
Kurt Vonnegut
Image
Cigarettes are a classy way to commit suiside.
Kurt Vonnegut