Kurt Vonnegut

"Any organization, no matter how well-intentioned, will eventually fill the needs of its administrators rather than those it was designed to serve."

"The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal."

"We are here on Earth to help each other."

"And now comes an intimate moment. At this point in the meeting, I would like to sing an old fashioned song, 'a drinking song.'"

"I asked my father what happens after we die. He said, 'You'll find out.'"

"Slaughterhouse-Five is somewhat dominated by two things: an intense depiction of the horrors of war, and an almost talmudic human dignity."

"The public health authorities never came around to ask the officials, 'Do you have any idea what you're causing in the way of sickness and death?'"

"Make your heart a place where lonely people feel welcome."

"When you get to be our age, you ought to be able to speak freely about anything."

"I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit."

"Nowhere does Vonnegut use profanity more effectively than in his most famous novel."

"I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."

"You don't have to be ashamed of tears, my son. Rain is also water, you know."

"The truth is, we know so little about life, we don't really know what the good news is and what the bad news is."

"Careers are a twentieth-century invention and I don't want one."

"We must be careful about what we pretend to be."

"Money cannot buy happiness, but it can make you very comfortable while you are being miserable."

"A person is smart. But groups of people tend to be dumb and panicky."

"I have been overstating the scientific accomplishments of the 20th century."

"The most important things are the hardest things to say, because words diminish them."

"For some reason, the most vocal Christians I have ever met were not Christian in the slightest."

"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."

"All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist."

"If you can do no good, at least do no harm."

"The demands of the present are so great that one dare not think of the future."

"Bad things are going to happen anyway, and therefore let them happen in a way which you can control."

"When I was a more angry young man, I wanted to change the world. When I was a middle-aged man, I wanted to change my town. Now I just want to change my street."

"I think you guys are crazy to call me a science fiction writer. I write about people."

"Enjoy your body, use it every way you can... Don't be afraid and don't be ashamed to do so."

"There are now more than 500 million Earthlings!"