60 Kurt Vonnegut Quotes By The Author Of Cat's Cradle

Kurt Vonnegut is a successful American writer who, in his literary career of over 50 years, published 14 novels, three short story collections, five plays, and five non-fiction novels.

Kurt Vonnegut's bestselling novels are 'Slaughterhouse-Five', 'Cat's Cradle', 'Welcome to the Monkey House', and many more. He used fantasy and science fiction to highlight the horrors and ironies of the twentieth century.

Vonnegut began with short stories. His first novel was 'Player Piano' (1952). The publication of 'Slaughterhouse-Five' and 'The Children's Crusade' ( 1969) bought him a lot of fame. Charles W. Juels, an astronomer, named an asteroid in Vonnegut's name on his 77th birthday for his scientific creativity.

If you like quotes from Kurt Vonnegut and are looking for similar quotes, we recommend you to check out our other articles on [Kerouac quotes] and T.S. Eliot quotes.
 

'Cat's Cradle' Quotes

Here are some of Kurt Vonnegut quotes 'Cat's Cradle' which is his fourth novel, and explores issues of science and religion.

1."Science is magic that works."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

2."Live by the harmless untruths that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

3."The heartbreaking necessity of lying about reality and the heartbreaking impossibility of lying about it”

-Kurt Vonnegut.

4."'The thing I like,’ said Hazel, ‘is they all speak English and they’re all Christians. That makes things so much easier.'"

- Kurt Vonnegut.

5."Anyone unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either."

- Kurt Vonnegut.

6."Father needs some kind of book to read to people who are dying or in terrible pain. I don’t suppose you’ve written anything like that."

- Kurt Vonnegut.

7."Writers get a nice break in one way, at least. They can treat their mental illnesses every day."

- Kurt Vonnegut.

8."You can't write novels without a touch of paranoia."

- Kurt Vonnegut.

9."People need good lies. There are too many bad ones."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

10."I'm simply interested in what is going to happen next.'"

-Kurt Vonnegut.

'Slaughterhouse-Five' Quotes

These quotes are from his bestselling novel. The novel's success vaulted Vonnegut into a famous writer.

11."I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone."

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

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

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

13."People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore."

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

14."It is just an illusion here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone, it is gone forever."

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

15. "How nice — to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive."

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

16."And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep."

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

17." If I am going to spend eternity visiting this moment and that, I'm grateful that so many of those moments are nice."

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

18." 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, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

19."All-time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber."

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

20."People would be surprised if they knew how much in this world was due to prayers."

- Kurt Vonnegut, 'Slaughterhouse-Five'.

Kurt Vonnegut 'Breakfast Of Champions' Quotes

Read below the quotes from Kurt Vonnegut’s masterpiece - 'Breakfast of Champions.'

21."What is time? It is a serpent which eats its tail."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

22."I was on par with the Creator of the Universe there in the dark in the cocktail lounge. I shrunk the Universe to a ball exactly one light-year in diameter."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

23."They were doing their best to live like people invented in storybooks."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

24."Symbols can be so beautiful, sometimes."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

25."Our awareness is all that is alive and maybe sacred in any of us."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

26."Ideas on earth were badges of friendship or enmity. Their content did not matter. Friends agreed with friends, in order to express friendliness. Enemies disagreed with enemies, in order to express enmity."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

27."There is no order in the world around us, we must adapt ourselves to the requirements of chaos instead."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

28."In nonsense is strength."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

29."We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

30."Of course, it is exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut Love Quotes

Here is a list of  Kurt Vonnegut quotes from his novels about love.

31."A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."

-'The Sirens of Titan'.

32."She broke my heart. I didn’t like that much. But that was the price. In this world, you get what you pay for."

-'Cat's Cradle.'

33."It was very exciting for her, taking his dignity away in the name of love."

-'Slaughterhouse-Five.'

34."There is enough love in this world for everybody if people will just look."

- 'Cat's Cradle.'

Kurt Vonnegut Funny Quotes

Read below some of the unforgettable Kurt Vonnegut quotes, which are hilarious.

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

- 'A Man Without a Country.'

36."No good at life, but very funny sometimes with the commentary.”

-Kurt Vonnegut.

37."Laughter or crying is what a human being does when there's nothing else he can do."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

38."Humor is a way of holding off how awful life can be, to protect yourself."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

39."Jokes are efficient things and they must be as carefully constructed as mouse traps."

- 'Cat's Cradle.'

Famous Kurt Vonnegut Quotes

Vonnegut novels theme up humor, dark, subtle, life, and love. Here are some of his great quotes.

40."How complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is."

- 'Cat's Cradle.'

41."Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt."

-'Slaughterhouse-Five.'

42."Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

43." The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake."

-'A Man Without a Country.'

44.“Dear future generations: Please accept our apologies. We were rolling drunk on petroleum.”

-Kurt Vonnegut.

45."Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."

-'A Man Without a Country.'

46."I want to stand 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."

- 'Player Piano.'

47."Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning do to do afterward."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

48."Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies you 've got a hundred years here."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

49."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.”

-' A Man Without a Country.'

50."I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all"

- 'The Sirens of Titan.'

51."We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

52."If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

53."Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, It might have been."

- Kurt Vonnegut.

54."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.'"

- 'A Man Without a Country.'

55.“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”

- 'If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young.'

56."Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly, Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land, Man got to tell himself he understand."

-'Cat's Cradle.'

57."Being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead."

-Humanist quote by Kurt Vonnegut.

58."New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become."

-'Breakfast of Champions.'

59."Joe said, 'I’ve got something he will never have what I have.'

        I said, 'What on earth could that be, Joe?'

       Joe said, 'The knowledge that I’ve got enough.'"

-It was said by Joe Heller in a conversation with Kurt Vonnegut.

60."There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind."

-Kurt Vonnegut.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotesfor everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Kurt Vonnegut Quotes then why not take a look at Thomas Pynchon quotes or Emily Brontë quotes.