Thursday, April 12, 2007

RIP Kurt Vonnegut

Apparently he never gave that speech at MIT - the one about sunscreen. Which only leads me to wonder if he had ever been invited to speak at a graduation. I have no doubt that it would have been amazing.

But he did say this:
"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."

And a lot of other things.


Among my favorites is this:

"We are healthy only to the extent that our ideas are humane."

And in the silence he leaves behind, he will be missed.

4 comments:

ldbug said...

dilling wrote about him on her blog too....never heard of him, but after payday (YAY) I think I'll head out and buy "slaughterhouse-five"

MomVee said...

So it goes.

Anonymous said...

Don't know if he ever spoke at a graduation, but I was lucky enough to attend a lecture he gave at Butler U in Indianapolis in '83 (or possibly '82? damn alzheimers). Anyway, we've lost one of the truly great ones.

ergo said...

ldbug: I first heard about him while watching the movie "Footloose." Slaughterhouse Five was one of the books that were banned from the library of that little town.

momvee: *sniffle* true. so true.

sunjunkie: Lucky. I saw some interview clips on Charlie Rose the other night. Vonnegut was an awesome guest.