Kurt Vonnegut Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Kurt Vonnegut quotes, Kurt Vonnegut sayings, and Kurt Vonnegut proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.'

How complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is. Kurt Vonnegut
Charm was a scheme for making strangers like and trust a person immediately, no matter what the charmer had in mind. Kurt Vonnegut
Earthlings went on being friendly, when they should have been thinking instead. Kurt Vonnegut
Earthlings are the great explainers, explaining why this event is structured as it is, telling how other events may be achieved or avoided. Kurt Vonnegut
The two prime movers in the Universe are Time and Luck. Kurt Vonnegut
Being a humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead. Kurt Vonnegut
The Earthlings behaved at all times as though there were a big eye in the sky – as though that big eye were ravenous for entertainment. Kurt Vonnegut
That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones. Kurt Vonnegut
Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance. Kurt Vonnegut
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. Kurt Vonnegut
I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different. Kurt Vonnegut
It's a terrible waste to be happy and not notice it. Kurt Vonnegut
What good is a planet called Earth, after all, if you own no land? Kurt Vonnegut
The Great Depression was going on, so that the station and the streets teemed with homeless people, just as they do today. The newspapers were full of stories of worker layoffs and farm foreclosures and bank failures, just as they are today. All that has changed, in my opinion, is that, thanks to television, we can hide a Great Depression. We may even be hiding a Third World War. Kurt Vonnegut
Here we are trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why. Kurt Vonnegut
We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down. Kurt Vonnegut
Only nut cases want to be president. This was true even in high school. Only clearly disturbed people ran for class president. Kurt Vonnegut
There is a riddle about a man who is locked in a room with nothing but a bed and a calendar, and the question is: How does he survive? The answer is: He eats dates from the calendar and drinks from the springs of the bed. Kurt Vonnegut
Jokes have to be quite naked to be understood. They have to be quite simple. Kurt Vonnegut
The best jokes are dangerous, and dangerous because they are in some way truthful. Kurt Vonnegut
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
We're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. That's what it is to be alive. It's pretty dense kids who haven't figured that out by the time they're ten.... Most kids can't afford to go to Harvard and be misinformed. Kurt Vonnegut
The only thing I ever learned was that some people are lucky and other people aren't and not even a graduate of the Harvard Business School can say why. Kurt Vonnegut
A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved. Kurt Vonnegut
The big show is inside my head. Kurt Vonnegut
The world is full of people who are very clever at seeming much smarter than they really are. Kurt Vonnegut
Unusual travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God. Kurt Vonnegut
Artists use frauds to make human beings seem more wonderful than they really are. Dancers show us human beings who move much more gracefully than human beings really move. Films and books and plays show us people talking much more entertainingly than people really talk, make paltry human enterprises seem important. Singers and musicians show us human beings making sounds far more lovely than human beings really make. Architects give us temples in which something marvelous is obviously going on. Actually, practically nothing is going on. Kurt Vonnegut
Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything. Kurt Vonnegut
I can think of no more stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fire engine. Kurt Vonnegut