Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Quote by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

“It's sort of self-congratulatory to be the person who walks around pitying other people. I don't do that very much. I just know that there are plenty of people who are in terrible trouble and can't get out. And so I'm impatient with those who think that it's easy for people to get out of trouble. I think there are some people who really need a lot of help.”

Quote by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Book:Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons
Create image

Work

Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Browse famous quotes and profile details for Kurt Vonnegut Jr.. more

You May Also Like

“For something to become normal, it has to be made familiar, but at the same time it's worth accepting that there's something about the way we decide what's normal that has more to do with our own subjectivity, and that's something that no amount of exposure or empathy can necessarily undo.”

AcceptanceNormalEmpathyFamiliarSubjective Truth
Book:Finding Normal: Sex, Love, and Taboo in Our Hyperconnected World
Create image

“Here’s how I see it. You can break people up into three groups. The pre-midnight crowd, which is your average stiff. Saddled by their spouse, kids, and American idealism, easy to peg and rather uninteresting. Then, there’s the after-midnight crowd which is pretty interesting. They’re the people who can talk about the dark side, but not really go there, maybe they danced with it in college. But they still know how to have some fun. Then there’s the after 4am crowd that really opens your eyes to the world. You want empathy for people? Smoke a joint with two hookers who drive over two hours at 4.30 in the morning just to earn a living. Say what you want about morality, but that’s as real as it gets. All of sudden, 9-to-5 doesn’t seem so bad. Neither does the grumpy neighbor or that a-hole cousin. Plus, it’s quite liberating. You can say whatever you want. It’s all on the table. There’s nothing you can say that’s going to offend the underworld. What can be more extreme than the reality these two girls live?”

Life QuotesEmpathyNovelsWriter Quotes
Book:Tom Collins: A 'Slightly Crooked' Novel
Create image

“He had complicated our task of being pleasant dinner companions by mentioning famine, something that Americans had never known. The word could only conjure otherworldly landscapes of the skeletal dead, which was not the spectral image we wanted to present, for what one should never do was to require other people to imagine they were just like one of us. Spiritual teleportation unsettled most people, who, if they thought of others at all, preferred to think that others were just like them or could be just like them.”

DeathEmpathySympathyFamineAmericans
Book:The Sympathizer
Create image

“This journey is arduous for you, me, and everyone around us. But that's how it's meant to be, the journey of life - challenging, strenuous, and nerve-racking. Someday your leg might slip and years of hard work might come undone. Someday you'll run out of motivation to climb. Someday you'll watch your loved ones fall down, forever. But what if we held each other's hand. Wouldn't the arduous climb become easier for each one of us?”

LifeInspirationalEmpathySympathy
Book:A Scrapyard for Dreams
Create image

“I Am Broken (The Sonnet) Yes I do care, not about what the snobs say, I care about how the deprived live. Yes I am obsessed, not with looking fancy, I am obsessed with alleviating others' grief. Yes I am greedy, not for wealth and possession, I am greedy to see sunshine on teary faces. Yes I am nuts, not for perfection or fashion, I am nuts about equity, honor and upliftment. Yes I am scared, not that I may get hurt, But that blinded by bias I may hurt someone. Yes I am insecure, not about getting deceived, But about losing control and causing harm. Yes I am broken, unstable and bonkers as hell, All 'cause others matter to me more than myself.”

SacrificeEmpathyEnlightenmentHumanitarianSelf RealizationService Of HumanitySonnetSelfless ServiceHumanist Poetry
Book:Handcrafted Humanity: 100 Sonnets For A Blunderful World
Create image