Inspirational Quotes

Words to motivate, inspire, and guide you.

Kurt Vonnegut Quotes

Historical Perspective Human Potential Inner Wisdom Self-Discovery Everyone now knows how to find the meaning of life within himself. But mankind wasn't always so lucky. Less than a century ago, men and women did not have easy access to the puzzle boxes within them.

Divine Power Faith Humility Luck and Providence Puny man can do nothing at all to help or please God Almighty, and Luck is not the hand of God.

Growth Knowledge Learning Truth Value New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become.

Conservation Environmental Awareness Ethics Humility Responsibility I really wonder what gives us the right to wreck this poor planet of ours.

Criticism Humor Literature Perspective Tolerance Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.

Caution Environmentalism Human Impact Nature Regret Evolution can go to hell as far as I am concerned. What a mistake we are. We have mortally wounded this sweet life-supporting planet - the only one in the whole Milky Way - with a century of transportation whoopee.

Innovation Knowledge Magic Science Wonder Science is magic that works.

Creativity Education Humor Independence Self-Expression It was very lucky for me as a writer that I studied the physical sciences rather than English. I wrote for my own amusement. There was no kindly English professor to tell me for my own good how awful my writing really was. And there was no professor with the power to order me what to read, either.

Good vs Evil Hope Humor Morality Organization There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.

Human Metabolism Productivity Self-Discipline Work Efficiency Work-Life Balance I get up at 7:30 and work four hours a day. Nine to twelve in the morning, five to six in the evening. Businessmen would achieve better results if they studied human metabolism. No one works well eight hours a day. No one ought to work more than four hours.

Power and Influence Society and Governance Surprise and Reality True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.

Family Humor Identity Names Self-Perception Call me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John.

Civic Knowledge Democracy Government Intellectualism Literature I consider anybody a twerp who hasn't read 'Democracy in America' by Alexis de Tocqueville. There can never be a better book than that one on the strengths and vulnerabilities inherent in our form of government.

Caution Humility Knowledge Self-awareness Wisdom Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.

Authenticity Identity Perception Self-awareness We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.

Affection Animal relationships Bond Communication Companionship I let the dog out, or I let him in, and we talk some. I let him know I like him, and he lets me know he likes me.

Environment Friendship Humanity Nature Perception If people think nature is their friend, then they sure don't need an enemy.

Artistic Passion Authenticity Creativity Integrity I'm convinced that no one can amount to a damn in the arts if he becomes sweetly reasonable, seeing all sides of a picture, forgiving all sins.

Creativity Humanism Perception Storytelling Writing One of the things that I tell beginning writers is this: If you describe a landscape, or a cityscape, or a seascape, always be sure to put a human figure somewhere in the scene. Why? Because readers are human beings, mostly interested in human beings. People are humanists. Most of them are humanists, that is.

Humor Self-awareness Social Behavior I now make my living by being impolite. I am clumsy at it.

Communication Courage Imagination Memory War I think a lot of people, including me, clammed up when a civilian asked about battle, about war. It was fashionable. One of the most impressive ways to tell your war story is to refuse to tell it, you know. Civilians would then have to imagine all kinds of deeds of derring-do.

Future Motivation Planning Reflection Time Management This is Sunday, and the question arises, what'll I start tomorrow?

Contemplation Faith Hope Religion Spirituality People don't come to church for preachments, of course, but to daydream about God.

Compassion Hope Love Optimism Unity There is love enough in this world for everybody, if people will just look.

Creativity Flexibility Innovation Literature Storytelling I don't plot my books rigidly, follow a preconceived structure. A novel mustn't be a closed system - it's a quest.

Courage Exploration Perspective Risk Taking Self-awareness I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center.

Curiosity Knowledge Learning Observation Wonder Anything can make me stop and look and wonder, and sometimes learn.

Courage Creativity Expression Freedom Oppression Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?

Community Courage Loneliness Social Connection Youth 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.

Creativity Determinism Human Nature Literature Psychology It is a big temptation to me, when I create a character for a novel, to say that he is what he is because of faulty wiring, or because of microscopic amounts of chemicals which he ate or failed to eat on that particular day.