Slaughter House 5 Quotes - Page 2

• ...when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Past, Slaughterhouse Five, Alive

  Harold Bloom, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (2009). “Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five”, p.8, Infobase Publishing

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• Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Past, Slaughterhouse Five, Billy Pilgrim

  Harold Bloom, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (2009). “Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five”, p.14, Infobase Publishing

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• Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Life Changing, Slaughterhouse Five, Trying

  Harold Bloom, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (2009). “Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five”, p.19, Infobase Publishing

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• She was a dull person, but a sensational invitation to make babies.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Baby, Slaughterhouse Five, Dull

  KURT VONNEGUT JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”

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• - Why me? - That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? - Yes. - Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Slaughterhouse Five, Amber, Matter

  Kurt Vonnegut (1969). “Slaughterhouse-five: or, The children's crusade, a duty-dance with death”

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• All this happened, more or less.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Slaughterhouse Five, Chaos, Slaughterhouse 5

  Harold Bloom, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (2009). “Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five”, p.112, Infobase Publishing

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• America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves... It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Wise, Hate, Men

  "Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death". Book by Kurt Vonnegut, 1969.

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• 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

  Nice, Grateful, Slaughterhouse Five

  KURT VONNEGUT, JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE”

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• There is one other book, that can teach you everything you need to know about life... it's The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, but that's not enough anymore.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Brother, Book, Needs

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

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Night, Alcohol, Slaughterhouse Five

  Harold Bloom, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (2009). “Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five”, p.129, Infobase Publishing

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• They do not love one another because they do not love themselves.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Slaughterhouse Five, Love One Another, Slaughterhouse 5

  KURT VONNEGUT, JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE”

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• The nicest veterans in Schenectady, I thought, the kindest and funniest ones, the ones who hated war the most, were the ones who'd really fought.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  War, Slaughterhouse Five, Veteran

  Harold Bloom, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (2009). “Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five”, p.156, Infobase Publishing

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• The umpire had comical news. The congregation had been theoretically spotted from the air by a theoretical enemy. They were all theoretically dead now. The theoretical corpses laughed and ate a hearty noontime meal.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Air, Umpires, Enemy

  KURT VONNEGUT, JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE”

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• America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Hate, America, People

  KURT VONNEGUT, JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE”

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• Billy had a framed prayer on his office wall which expressed his method for keeping going, even though he was unenthusiastic about living. A lot of patients who saw the prayer on Billy’s wall told him that it helped them to keep going, too. It went like this: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference.” Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Prayer, Wall, Past

  KURT VONNEGUT JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”

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• The Population Reference Bureau predicts that the world's total population will double to 7,000,000,000 before the year 2000. I suppose they will all want dignity, I said.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Years, Slaughterhouse Five, Population

  KURT VONNEGUT, JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE”

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• One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  War, Character, People

  KURT VONNEGUT JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”

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• There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  War, Character, People

  KURT VONNEGUT JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”

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• All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  War, Slaughterhouse Five, Literature

  Kurt Vonnegut (1969). “Slaughterhouse-five, Or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-dance with Death”, Random House LLC

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• And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Home, People, Wife

  Kurt Vonnegut (1969). “Slaughterhouse-five: or, The children's crusade, a duty-dance with death”

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• If what Billy Pilgrim learned from the Tralfamadorians is true, that we will all live forever, no matter how dead we may sometimes seem to be, I am not overjoyed. Still--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

  Nice, Grateful, Forever

  Kurt Vonnegut (1969). “Slaughterhouse-five, Or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-dance with Death”, Random House LLC

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• There isn’t any particular relationship between the messages, except that the author has chosen them carefully, so that, when seen all at once, they produce an image of life that is beautiful and surprising and deep. There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects. What we love in our books are the depths of many marvelous moments seen all at one time.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Love, Beautiful, Book

  KURT VONNEGUT JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”

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

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Names, Slaughterhouse Five, Dignity

  KURT VONNEGUT JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”

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• She upset Billy simply by being his mother. She made him feel embarrassed and ungrateful and weak because she had gone to so much trouble to give him life, and to keep that life going, and Billy didn't really like life at all.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Mother, Giving, Ungrateful

  KURT VONNEGUT JR (1969). “SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE”

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