Among other laudable qualities, Vonnegut was … is very quotable, so I’m breaking my usual one-quote epitaph.
- “Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand.”
- “Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.”
- “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.”
- “Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.”
- “I am eternally grateful … for my knack of finding in great books, some of them very funny books, reason enough to feel honored to be alive, no matter what else might be going on.”
- “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.”
- “A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”
Cat’s Cradle was one of the rare assigned books that I actually read in college, and I am the better for it. It contains one of the few scenes in literature that is etched in my psyche and, I hope, will remain so until I myself am no more.
The best thing I think you can say about a man is certainly true of Vonnegut … he became less cynical with age.
