Quotes from book
A Man Without a Country
A Man Without a Country is an essay collection published in 2005 by the author Kurt Vonnegut. The essays that make up this book deal with topics ranging from the importance of humor, to problems with modern technology, to Vonnegut's opinions on the differences between men and women. Most prevalent in the text, however, are those essays that elucidate Vonnegut's opinions on politics, and the issues in modern American society, often from a decidedly humanistic perspective. A Man Without a Country was a New York Times Bestseller and a Booksense Notable Book. In January 2007, Vonnegut indicated that he intended this to be his final work, a statement that proved to be correct with his death in April 2007. Later published works of Vonnegut's were all published posthumously, and consisted almost entirely of previously unpublished material from early in his career.
A Man Without a Country (2005)
A close paraphrase of this (beginning "Do not use...") is repeated in a commencement address at Cloves Hall, 27 April 2007, as reprinted in Armageddon in Retrospect
A Man Without a Country (2005)
“George W. Bush has gathered around him upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography.”
A Man Without a Country (2005)
“If you actually are an educated, thinking person, you will not be welcome in Washington DC.”
A Man Without a Country (2005)
A Man Without a Country (2005)
Context: If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.
A Man Without a Country (2005)
Context: Socialism is no more an evil word than Christianity. Socialism no more prescribed Joseph Stalin and his secret police and shuttered churches than Christianity prescribed the Spanish Inquisition. Christianity and socialism alike, in fact, prescribe a society dedicated to the proposition that all men, women, and children are created equal and shall not starve.
