So I set about looking for a collection of his quotes, and then tried to pare them down to a nice grouping of favorites. The sheer quantity of his gems is overwhelming though, and selecting one over another is just so above me. Don't accuse me of necrophilia for kissing the rigor mortised ass of a dead man, but Kurt Vonnegut was kind of awesome.
When you have a few traits in common with someone, and that someone is held in your regard, the weak thing to do is sort of hope that maybe those similarities might translate to a little bit of awesomeness of your own. Being a weak person, I can say that we were both from Indiana and that I'm a humanist (although not organized or committed enough to be a Humanist). Going further would just be an adventure in absurdism.
There's more I'm not putting here. The date of his death coincides with a personal date of my own, which will remain personal, until that day of course that I cull it to the right effect, garnering readers pathos, and empty, yet heartfelt, empathy. So why even bring it up? It's a ball-heavy thrustyfuck of foreshadowing. Subtlety will never find me on its mailing list. I'm hoping that upon my own death, one of my own quotes will be notable. Namely, "Stop me before I make this about myself." So I will.
If you find yourself mentioning Vonnegut's death (as six people mentioned it to an already-knowing me today I don't find this impossible) and your co-conversant isn't familiar with his work, do them the favor of buying them Cat's Cradle, or whatever. Vonnegut was important and a voice against the current vapid cultural tide.
As for this trite tribute, I'll not return to my original intention of collecting quotes; wikiquote already has it covered. I'll just leave you with one great Kurt Vonnegut quote:
"When you're dead, you're dead."
