Literary Quote of the Day: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
As all of you know, I read a lot. I thought that it would be nice to start a new, daily routine: the literary quote of the day.
For those who already read a lot, perhaps you recognize the quote and want to leave a comment about it / the author… or perhaps it makes you realize that you did not read the specific essay, article, book, story, poem, etc. it was taken from and you might want to read it now…
For those who don’t read a lot… hopefully this ‘routine’ will make you realize that you’re missing out on a lot. Hopefully it will make you start thinking and perhaps it will inspire you to read.
The world of literature is rich… richer than anyone can imagine.
Today’s quote is from Kurt Vonnegut Jr.‘s Fates Worse Than Death:
Scientists, for all their creativity, will never discover a method for making people deader than dead. So if some of you are worried about being hydrogen-bombed, you are merely fearing death. There is nothing new in that. If there weren’t any hydrogen bombs, death would still be after you. And what is death but an absence of life? That’s all it is. That is all it ever can be.Death is nothin. What is all this fuss about?
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15 Responses to “Literary Quote of the Day: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.”
Classic Vonnegut. Thanks for the post, and I’d love to see more.
Death doesn’t faze me. Pain and dependency is not something I look forward to.
Did you ever look in the obituary and notice people die in alphabetical order?
Be nice to your kids. They’ll choose your nursing home.
Congress: A place where they take minutes and waste hours.
A hardware store in Oregon has a sign that reads: Today’s special. Below it says: So’s tomorrow.
Here’s my nomination for the day:
Samuel Adams:
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your
chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
Paul: yeah that is something that I thought when I saw my grandmother in a… not so good nursing home. It was awful and very shocking.
Pete: thanks for the compliment. Don’t worry, you WILL see more.
I already have some waiting from Irving, Emerson and Thoreau in the coming days.
Ha! GReendreams, thanks for sharing that quote!
And so it goes.
Vonnegut has always been one of my favorates…
Here’s two more for the sake of variety.
Or should I say “One of my favorites“… Please bare with me I’m having a little trouble with spealing and cementics today.
It’s not death to be feared, but the lack of existence after existence.
Everyone speculates about life after death. You’ll find out first-hand soon enough. So why worry? There’s nothing you can do about it.
From ‘Piano Player‘ to ‘A Man Without A Country‘ Kurt Vonnegut has been one of the ‘mind-openers’ in my life. Hell, he’s an artist… I’ve got one of his prints hanging in my office.
PS – Sorry about the sexual aspect in my first KV quote… The “those people have forgiven themselves and their friends for anything and everything” was what grabed me… I saw the sexual inference as moot but after rereading my post realized it might put some off.
Hydrogen Bombs. End of all life on earth. End of life for my children. End of any chance of a future for our species. Just another dead planet within a universe filled with hundreds of billions of dead planets. Don’t worry, be happy.
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. needs a haircut.
What’s the big fuss about?
I agree that death itself is nothin’, but the ‘big fuss’ is about the moments or events that lead up to it. More specifically, that they not be especially painful.
…which leads me to my issue with the immortal words of the great philosopher – Patrick Swayze – when he said “Pain don’t hurt.”
I call bullshit. Pain does too hurt. That’s why it’s called pain. When I stub my toe, it hurts. I don’t like that feeling and would prefer to avoid it – as well as any and all other forms of pain – as much as possible.
So, here’s to a nice, quiet, painless transition into oblivion.
Teafizz,
I don’t agree that pain is the main issue in our fear of death (it is one issue, of course, but not the central fear). I think it is fear of irrelevance, of our existence not meaning anything. Thus I think that Krous’s comments are on target: nuclear/hydrogen bombs are more frightening than death itself because we fear for future generations, for the loss of posterity.
The quote got your attention. That’s the desired effect. Now… please consider the entire essay (it’s only a few pages long).
His point is not what some of you seem to think it is… quite the opposite, in a way.