“They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.”

— Kurt Vonnegut

Cold Turkey (2004)
Context: 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? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas." by Kurt Vonnegut?

Kurt Vonnegut photo

Kurt Vonnegut 318

American writer 1922–2007

Related quotes

“This is rural America. We’re rich in self-sustaining nature and neighbors helping neighbors but we don’t have resources, I’ve got a car full of toys we’re taking to a school where 60 kids weren’t going to have Christmas. [...] Now they’re closing the coal-fired plants, and those tradesmen and -women are being thrown out of those highly skilled jobs, and it’s having a terrible impact.”

Robin L. Webb (1960) American politician

About the poverty increase in Carter County, as quoted in Poverty Grew in One-Third of Counties Despite Strong National Economy https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/12/19/poverty-grew-in-one-third-of-counties-despite-strong-national-economy (December 19, 2019) by Tim Henderson, The Pew Charitable Trusts.

“Toys are not a need people typically think of, but they've got all these kids who have absolutely nothing to do.”

Gloria Estefan (1957) Cuban-American singer-songwriter, actress and divorciada

comment to USA Today newspaper (September 15, 2005) explaining why she, Emilio and other prominent Hispanic entertainers personally delivered a planeload of toys and other aid to three shelters with Hurricane Katrina victims
2007, 2008

“Never underestimate the determination of a kid who is time rich and cash poor.”

Cory Doctorow Little Brother

Source: Little Brother (2008)

“I never swore as a kid. Honestly. Never. I never smoked a cigarette and I never tasted alcohol until I got to Bible College.”

Phil Vischer (1966) American puppeter

Source: Me, Myself, & Bob (2006), p. 11

“We all love toys. I'm toy oriented. I write about toys. I've got a lot of toys. Hundreds of things. But computers are toys, and men like to mess around with smart dumb things. They feel creative. … People are talking about the Internet as a creative tool for writers. I say, "B. S. Stay away from that. Stop talking to people around the world and get your work done."”

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer

Playboy interview (1996)

“I love being single. It's almost like being rich.”

Sue Grafton (1940–2017) American writer

“You and your ancestors treated the world like a fucking great toilet bowl. You shat in it and boasted about the mess you’d made. And now it’s full and overflowing, and you’re fat and happy and black kids are going crazy to keep you rich. Goodbye!”

John Brunner book The Sheep Look Up

February “DISGRACE”
The Sheep Look Up (1972)

“Got a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack;
I went out for a ride and I never went back.
Like a river that don't know where it's flowing,
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going”

Bruce Springsteen (1949) American singer and songwriter

"Hungry Heart"
Song lyrics, The River (1980)

“We laughed about all the kids who believed in the Santa Clause myth and got nothing but a bunch of cheap plastic toys. 'Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten,' Dad said, ' you'll still have your stars.”

Jeannette Walls book The Glass Castle

Source: The Glass Castle

“The reason I must be rich is because I have you kids.”

Robert T. Kiyosaki (1947) American finance author , investor

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money-That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

Related topics