Kurt Vonnegut

"My first rule: don't be ashamed."

"What does it matter that we're here? We're here."

"Time is really passing now I'm losing my hair and time is shortening."

"The simplest American object, a piece of white bread, is the acme of cooperation."

"I tried, though, to be as fair and accurate in my description of what happened."

"That is the awful thing about being an intelligent human being."

"My soul has been sold. It's been closed down. There is nothing sacred about it anymore."

"We should spend less time worrying about who we are and more time worrying about what we're doing."

"You will be made fun of for the way you look, the way you act, the way you dress, the way you talk."

"There's only one rule that I know of: goddamn it, you've got to be kind."

"Everything is terrible and nothing is true."

"Humor is a wonderful tool, particularly for those of us who are trying to change people's minds."

"Everything is toxic. That which does not kill you makes you stranger."

"Enjoy it while you can, and while you are young."

"The only way to cope with something deadly serious is to treat it a little bit lightly."

"We are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different."

"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.'"

"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."

"True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country."

"When you get to my age, you realize you've made mistakes and the only thing you can do is study the mistakes so you don't make them again."

"Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you."

"There is no hiding place in a world where we are all connected."

"The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life worth living."

"Who would ever believe the future was infinitely long and the past was infinitely short?"

"In this life we are guests of the moment."

"The big, dumb comment wins out."

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

"Busy, busy, busy."

"When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth."

"I hate it that Americans are taught to think of themselves as winners. What is the metric of succeeding?"