Brooke Shaden

17 Quotes From Slaughterhouse-Five That Will Leave You Speechlessly In Awe

Despite it being the 46th most banned book in the United States, 'Slaughterhouse-Five' is one of the most poignant literary masterpieces of the 21st century. So it goes.  
Mélanie Berliet
August 25, 2016
“I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel(Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Alcohol, Drinking Too Much
“All this responsibility at such an early age made her a bitchy flibbertigibbet.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Funny Words
“America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: America, Economic Inequality
“They had both found life meaningless, partly because of what they had seen in war.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: War
“It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead, to never say anything or want anything ever again. Everything is supposed to be very quiet after a massacre, and it always is, except for the birds.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Massacre, Violence
“When food came in, the human beings were quiet and trusting and beautiful. They shared.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Hungry
“He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Nervous
“Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: America, Consumerism, Buying Shit
“There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel(Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Nothing
“All moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel(Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Time, Compressed Time, All At Once
“Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Bad Times, Awful, Overcoming Obstacles
“It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel(Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Similes, Time, Earth
“It was very exciting for her, taking his dignity away in the name of love.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Love, dignity
“So it goes.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Three Words
“Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Meaning Of Life
“How nice — to feel nothing, and still get full credit for being alive.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel(Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Life, Nihilism
“Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel (Modern Library 100 Best Novels)
Tagged: Feeling Nothing, Ghost of A Human