What are Vonnegut's most famous quotes?

"So it goes." Repeated 106 times in Slaughterhouse-Five after each death — a refrain that is simultaneously fatalistic and unbearably compassionate. Every death matters enough to be noted; the phrase acknowledges it and moves forward, which is the only thing to do.

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." From the introduction to Mother Night. His most concise statement of the idea that performance shapes reality.

"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different." His most irreverent line — which is also his deepest: against the compulsion to assign grand purposes to ordinary lives.

"Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt." From Slaughterhouse-Five. The most devastating irony in 20th-century fiction, delivered without apparent irony.

What do Vonnegut's quotes reveal about his worldview?

That he was absurdist without being nihilistic. He found human beings ridiculous and cared about them enormously. The combination produces humor that's genuinely funny and genuinely sad — sometimes in the same sentence.

What did Vonnegut say about kindness?

"There's only one rule that I know of, babies — God damn it, you've got to be kind." From God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. His most direct moral statement. No theology, no philosophy, no conditions. Just the one rule.

Why do Vonnegut's jokes work philosophically?

Because they're precise. The humor is the argument. "So it goes" doesn't explain Billy Pilgrim's acceptance of death — it demonstrates it. You understand the worldview by experiencing it, not by being told about it.