For those who don’t know, Kurt Vonnegut died last night at the age of eighty-four. I have only read bits and pieces of his writing, but it was landmark for its time.
Some quotes from “A Man Without A Country” (thanks to Steven H. for finding them):
“Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East?”
“Freud said he didn’t know what women wanted. I know what women want: a whole lot of people to talk to. What do they want to talk about? They want to talk about everything. What do men want? They want a lot of pals, and they wish people wouldn’t get so mad at them. Why are so many people getting divorced today? It’s because most of us don’t have extended families anymore. It used to be that when a man and a woman got married, the bride got a lot more people to talk to about everything. The groom got a lot more pals to tell dumb jokes to.But most of us, if we get married nowadays, are just one more person for the other person. The groom gets one more pal, but it’s a woman. The woman gets one more person to talk to about everything, but it’s a man. A husband, a wife and some kids is not a family. It’s a terribly vulnerable survival unit.”
“Can I tell you the truth? I mean this isn’t the TV news is it? Here’s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial. And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what we’re hooked on.”
And so it goes.
RIP
For those who haven’t read his works, I suggest starting with Breakfast of Champions and moving on from there. He was an excellent writer — funny, groundbreaking, and unusual — I highly recommend giving him a try.
And Matt, as the representative atheist, you’ll get a kick out of this quote from Vonnegut:
We had a memorial service for Isaac [Asimov] a few years back, and I spoke and said at one point, ‘Isaac is up in heaven now.’ It was the funniest thing I could have said to an audience of humanists. I rolled them in the aisles. It was several minutes before order could be restored. And if I should ever die, God forbid, I hope you will say, ‘Kurt is up in heaven now.’ That’s my favorite joke.
Kurt is up in heaven now.
— Ben
heh..
This is where babies come from. – Breakfast of Champions.
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